Midweek Faith Lift
December 6, 2023
The First Sunday of Advent- Hope
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Reflection
November 22, 2023
Stunning new images of the heart of the Milky Way, captured by the James Webb Telescope, are helping scientists understand the origin story of much of the Universe. There are 500,000 stars glittering within a single image, ranging in size and age, and each with its own story.
“I turn to that inner place where I am held safe, and I listen to the heartbeat of God. I move from time into eternity, from passing realities to lasting joy, from the dwellings of human beings into the house of love.” - Henri Nouwen
Affirmative prayer: Today, I peer deeply into the heart of the Universe and see the origin of my life. From this heavenly center, I look upon everyone and everything as emanations of the Divine. Thank you, God, forever. Amen.
This is the beginning of our Advent journey to Christmas, to the rebirth of the light. It is truly stunning to think of all the stars glittering in the immensity of the Universe, our sun being just one of them, the one most important to us here on earth. When you regard all of the events here on earth from that perspective, it kind of cuts it all down to size for sure, doesn’t it? And yet, as divine/human beings we long for significance, we long to know that we matter, that our being here, as part of this earth story really matters. And in truth, regarding what we can now see in the heavens, the 500,000 glittering stars, tells us that we do matter. It is human ingenuity and creativity that lets us glimpse the beauty of the heavens through the James Webb telescope.
And friends, it is the Christmas story that lets us begin to glimpse the beauty of the light within each of us, the light that can seem so dim and darkened by fear, worry, doubt, greed, resentment, guilt and on and on. It can seem like we are millions of light years away from realizing our own inner light and worth. Humans can be kind of slow to catch on to what is really the source of hope, peace, love and joy….all the aspects of Advent. How do we cultivate our own inner “Webb Telescope” to begin to glimpse the true brilliance and beauty of the light within each of us?
We, in our human experience, are creatures who make meaning, who want to understand what things mean and how they work, how it really matters, how we really matter. In our human history, we began with primitive pictures, which have been found in caves throughout Europe and the Middle East. These simple cave drawings represented hunting, planting, harvesting and all the activities of daily life. And then we started naming things and thus spoken language was born which greatly enhanced communication and introduced the possibility of misunderstanding! We are just human after all! Humans were focused on survival, living very humbly and simply just to survive as a species. They would eventually learn how to make weapons and how to kill each other, a sad turn in the evolution of the human story, contributing greatly to the darkness within.
These ancient peoples were not aware of the light within, nor did they contemplate how to engage or even detect that light. It is in the Christmas story that we begin do that collectively, to look within to find our way to something more than just our human experience. Just as we wait for the light to return to the earth after the Winter solstice, we wait for the light to be revealed within us. The season of Advent is one of waiting, waiting for the birth of the Christ light within just as Mary was waiting for the actual birth of her child. Our purpose and intent is to actively cultivate a space, an opening for the light within to be revealed, to be born and to shine brightly enough for us to see it both in oneself and each other.
That is the true question of Advent for each of us: Do you truly see your own light? It is actually more challenging than you think it might be. We are hard wired for survival, so our amygdala, or primitive brain responds quickly to perceived threats. We have to make conscious choices to see beyond these threats. Remember from last week in our study of Hinduism, the need to make positive choices to begin to escape from the wheel of Karma or Samsara, suffering? This awareness is part of the awakening of human consciousness to something greater, something more….awareness of the Light within.
In Advent, we are waiting with Hope, which is our human response when things feel challenging and dark. It is the emotion associated with the story of Mary, a young woman who receives this incredible message that she is going to have a baby and she is not yet married. She is told that her baby is a boy and that he will be a savior and that she is to name him Jesus. This story, included in the Gospel of Luke, was the last one to be written. It only appears so that the birth of Jesus is a “wonder birth” or a miracle birth, not unlike the birth of the Buddha or other significant figures in human history. Mary identifies as a humble servant of the Lord, and this is how the story is recorded in Luke:
Luke 1:35-38
35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
There are several highly significant messages in this story, including the phrase, “for nothing will be impossible with God.” For sure, Elizabeth has been hoping for a long time to have a child. And both she and Mary will embark on a journey of faith as they await the birth of their respective babies.
Those are the tools that hold the energy and space for the birth of the light: hope and faith. Those are the tools that we cultivate to create space for that light in us to power up and be revealed. When we want to be a black hole that collapses in on itself like a dying star, we cultivate the energy of hope. When we are not sure how to proceed, what to do next, we wait cultivating the power of faith that our next right step will become evident. Mary and Elizabeth each waited 9 months for the power of Faith to be revealed. The number 9 is a powerful amplification of Trinity times three. It is the creative process amplified that brings the light into manifestation.
For millennia, humans have survived with the tools of hope and faith that things could be better. As humans, we have an ardent desire to understand and embody the light that is the light of God, the light that we are as a part of God. As Richard Rohr states in his November 19, 2023 blog, “God As Pure Being”:
The great chain of being was the medieval metaphor for ecology before we spoke of ecosystems. While it was structured as a hierarchy, with each link in the chain “closer” to God, I view it as a philosophical and theological attempt to speak of the interconnectedness of all things on the level of pure “Being.” Today we might call it “the circle of life.” If God is Being Itself (Deus est Ens), as both St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas taught in the thirteenth century, then the great chain became a way of teaching and preserving the inherent dignity of all things that participate in that Divine Being in various ways. For me, it speaks of the inherent sacrality, interconnectedness, and communality of creation.
He continues:
The magnitude of things … clearly manifests the immensity of the power, wisdom and goodness of the triune God, whose power, presence and essence exists uncircumscribed in all things.” Bonaventure expanded on Alan of Lille’s philosophical idea of God as one “whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.” God is “within all things but not enclosed; outside all things, but not excluded; above all things, but not aloof; below all things, but not debased.” Therefore the origin, magnitude, multitude, beauty, fullness, activity, and order of all created things are the very “footprints” and “fingerprints” of God.
This is our season to travel with hope and faith and find the true power of our inner light. I close with the poetry of Marianne Williamson:
Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
May it Be So this Advent Season!
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb