“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”  “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.
- Luke 3:10-14, 16a

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 4:4-7

An approach one might take to Advent is to view it as a time of waiting for God who is to come, suggesting perhaps that when this happens everything will be all right with the world – a passive, insecure, almost childlike approach to the season. Rather than getting on with participating, co-labouring in building the kingdom, this idea of Advent leads us towards a self-obsessed wondering if we are ready, never quite sure if we have done enough for the God who is coming.

Meanwhile the need for a God who is come continues and this is perhaps why John, in answer to the crowd’s question ‘what should we do then’ to prepare, doesn’t suggest the people take time for the scrutinization of conscience or confession of fault, but exhorts them to a very concrete way of living justly, generously, in solidarity with the whole.

This isn’t always easy of course and this is where contemplative stillness can help. Over time the practice gentles us towards a necessary giving over of what we anxiously cling to for security, so we are freer to receive the gift of the always outpouring, always coming Love of God.

Meditations

"We are always struggling with what we want to do or decide to do and with the feelings that oppose our good resolutions. This is the area that we must address in daily life. The sense of radiant energy that Christ communicates with Christ's word has finally resounded at the deepest level within us and begins to work its way into all our thinking and activity in order to enhance our capacity to respond with the kind of love that motivated Jesus.

"The spiritual journey, then, teaches us the following:

1. To believe in the Divine Indwelling within us, fully present and energizing every level of our being.
2. To recognize that this energy is benign, healing and transforming.
3. To open to its gradual unfolding, step-by-step, both in prayer and action.

"Our prayer, as contemplative persons, is the constant exercise of faith, hope, and charity (Divine Love) … When we say, 'Come, Lord Jesus,' we should remember that Christ is already here and that Christ's coming means that Christ becomes more and more present to our consciousness. … As we learn to listen to the Word of God within us, we develop greater sensitivity to the Seven Gifts of the Spirit, allowing divine energy to manifest itself appropriately during prayer and in the events of daily life."
- Thomas Keating, Fruits and Gifts of The Spirit

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It’s a long way off but inside it

There are quite different things going on:

Festivals at which the poor man

Is king and the consumptive is

Healed; mirrors in which the blind look

At themselves and love looks at them

Back; and industry is for mending

The bent bones and the minds fractured

By life. It’s a long way off, but to get

There takes no time and admission

Is free, if you will purge yourself

Of desire, and present yourself with

Your need only and the simple offering

Of your faith, green as a leaf.

- R.S. Thomas, The Kingdom.

Practice

• Sometime in the coming week, when you have a few spare moments after your time of silent stillness, remain settled, take some deep breaths of loving intention, identify one or two people who you know long for God who is come just now, and offer to them, pour out to them, that energy of a God who is from your own inner well of love.
• Post your reflections on the community forum here.  Post prayer requests here. By clicking on the Subscribe link on the right-hand side of a thread, you can receive email notifications when someone posts a comment or a prayer request. 

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