Be on guard
so that your hearts are not weighed down
with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life,
and that day catch you unexpectedly.
—Luke 21.34
The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Holy One.”
— Luke 3.4
I was away for two weeks.
I offered a lecture, gave a poetry reading, led a retreat,
and spent a week with family. “The worries of this life.”
And then suddenly it was Advent. What? Advent?
How did that happen?
John Wesley spoke of God’s grace as “prevenient,” that is,
coming beforehand. Grace always sneaks up on us.
As much as John in the wilderness tells us to prepare a way,
we are always unprepared.
Even when we see it coming grace surprises us.
Even when it’s on the calendar God‘s presence is unexpected.
God sneaks into our lives right before our eyes.
So, yes: now and then , at least, shed the worries of this life.
Prepare. Repent. Anticipate.
And at the same time keep your heart open to the sneaky ways
Love has already taken you by surprise
without your even knowing it.
_______________
Weather Report
Astonishing,
as the low pressure area of What Is
is replaced by the steady winds of
What Is Becoming.
Heed all weather advisories,
though they will tell you nothing.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net