Bringin' it HOME

Bringin' it home...

Well, folks... it's Advent... that time of year we pretty much think we're at Christmas already.

Actually Advent is that time BEFORE Christmas. And it's the beginning of the church liturgical year. Now why would the church year start with Advent, and not Christmas, or something big like that? Advent isn't one of those flash/pizazz times of year... so... why this?

Advent in general is a time of anticipation, of waiting, of getting ready for... something. If we're waiting with such anticipation, getting ready and all that... it's usually something BIG.

This year I've been moved to prepare myself for refocusing ministry to the "ground" level - where the rubber meets the road. I've noticed that we're just so busy, so involved with many... many things that we just don't have a lot of time left over to focus on our faith lives. hey, I know... this is just as true for the clergy people as well - ironically.

Anyway, what ends up happening is, although we do practice our faith on a daily basis, we may not necessarily have a lot of time to grow it, if you know what I mean. We really have to make time to read the bible, pray in a quiet place, pray with our families, or even take a walk. We have to take time to stay sane.

But the thing is we really need to do this! Have you felt a hollow-ness in you... is there something inside you that prompts you to seek the Spirit? I've felt this. There is an un-ease within me that causes me to reflect on things like this. Maybe it's my time of life - you know, mid-life crisis and all - but I really do feel like there is a part of me that needs to seek not material things, but things of the spirit.

Maybe that's part of the problem. We are surrounded by so much stuff and so many things to do... busy schedules and all that - stuff that pulls us from the God-stuff. I am talking about the Spiritual, but not necessarily in the "I'm on the mountain-top and it's just me and God" kind of spirituality (I'm not much into sitting on the floor and staring at my belly-button (I have to add that I'm not knocking this if it works for you - it just doesn't work for me). But I do feel like there has to be some practical things we can do (or think) that will help us stay connected to the divine. There has to be a way to counter-act the tendencies of this part of our culture.

Living in the US isn't on the whole bad. It's actually quite good. We don't lack for much. Let me re-phrase that... we don't lack for much by way of material things. Generally speaking we're not starving, we're able to access great medical care, we can get a hold of pretty much any material thing we may need to keep our homes and cars and computers going.

But there are things we do lack... we are indeed starving in the soul. We do lack there. But we seem bound by our life situations to do anything about it. Sure there's the occasional story of the people that leave the city/suburban life, and run-off to the country or something... and our reactions to this run from "They're crazy", to "They are unrealistic", to "Man, I wish I could do that".

But what can we do to feed our souls, to stay connected with the Spirit in our regular busy-work-week lives? I've got good news and bad news; First the good news - Yes folks, there is hope... we CAN do something about it! Here's the bad news - it won't come easy. Until it becomes second-nature to us, we're going to have to work at it at first.


So, let's bring it home!
Here's a practical thing. I remember hearing a long time ago that in the Jewish tradition, it was a "sin" to eat standing up. The reason, if I remember right was that if we believed God was giving us a gift the food we're about to eat, then we ought to sit and enjoy it... as God intended it for us! So I practiced that, and it really meant a lot to me. Sitting down to eat became a kind of prayer-full moment. I remembered why I was sitting to eat, and the whole act of eating became an act of prayer as well. Not in the sense of "Dear God, help my family...". Not that kind of a prayer, but a prayer in the sense that I was mindful of God while I was eating.

I found out later that the Jewish tradition is very varied and wide, and the Rabbi I talked with about this said he'd never heard of this practice, but that it sounded like a good thing. So, oh well. It worked for me.


What helps you remember God during your day?

Please share with us the things that work for you.