Reflections 30 Nov 2003

1st Sunday of Advent

Looking over the Ridge

Don't our lives become easily bogged down?

Whether it be by repetitious routine or the hurriedness of our self importance, one of the great capacities of humankind appears to be the ability to take everything for granted, switch to auto-pilot and ‘half live’. It is possible to become driven by ‘l have to’ and ‘I must’ and unquestioningly rush from work to home and back again, or from activity to event to happening to crisis … even particularly at this time of year!

Partners are overlooked, loved ones unappreciated, moments of joy and depth by-passed. Life can lose any sense of awareness surrounding it.

The Season of Advent calls a halt to our unthinking lifestyle, just when all around us seems to be rushing headlong into it! Christmas should never be force of habit or just ‘well, its what you do’. Eastern religions talk ‘about consciousness’. Long ago Socrates encouraged followers that “The unexamined life is a life not worth living”.

The story we celebrate at this time of year invites us to wait, to stop, to listen. It points us back to simplicity and joy and trust. A baby will come. The baby will be God among us, bearing the potential for a different perspective.

But because of the way we live, we must be apprehended to apprehend it! Therefore, be encouraged …

• Hear the call to a fuller vision of life in the hopes surrounding the God–child …
• Be aware of your choices and decisions.
• Recognise this Advent time what you have, not what you need.