“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”
“Surely the This Advent I want to sit, to breathe, to under stimulate, to learn to trust God and trust life and know myself.
When life gets busy or the day to day goes on unchanging, we can all easily start to lean on our unconscious addictions. That word – addiction – may sound harsh, but I think we are all easily addicted to habits, things or ways of thinking in one way or another that give us momentary satisfaction or feelings of control.
Richard Rohr so tangibly describes what I mean when he when he says “Addicts are souls searching for love in all of the wrong places.” Reading it that way, I completely agree the human heart has a tendency to forget where love truly lies and where are hearts can fully be satisfied.
So this Advent, I read, I quiet, I pause. In hopes that my little wondering mind will once again let go of it’s tendencies toward grasping for control and manufactured satisfaction, and fall into the peaceful freedom that already exists if I just remember how to taste and see.
Life is so so great. God has blessed me richly. I am His now and always. All I need to do is look around and breathe in this goodness. The way the lights glimmer on the tree and warm the room with their glow. The way mornings are quiet and filled with coffee, scripture and my little kitty’s companionship. It’s all a gift.
But life can get so busy, so whelmed with planning and figuring out. This Christmas, instead of getting overwhelmed with the cookies that need made and the gifts that need to be wrapped, the house that needs cleaned and decorated for hosting, the parties to attend and the side-dishes to make… I want to be there, fully present, awake...savoring this beautiful life. This grand God-coming to man season. I want to smell the cookies as they bake, feel the warm water as I wash the dishes, hear the tissue paper as it crinkles, enjoy the glimmer of candles in the early evening dark, experience the feel of a every hug, soak in the smiles and laughs of my loved ones, and taste life for all that it is.
Lately at church we sing a song that repeats “You are the breath, in our lungs…” God is the breath in our lungs. He is in our lungs. Now. Right here. But do we even feel the breath? Do we even sense that our chests are rising and falling and our heart is still beating and we are not making that happen. Someone else is.
As I sit here and take a deep breath, I want to remember “Here is Holy.” God is in this place.
So, as this season clamors on, may we all breathe a little slower, deeper, more consciously and now awake to the fact that God is in this place and we didn’t even know it.
Merry Christmas.
Extra Musings and Random Thoughts
For a few weeks LCBC Worship has a free music sampler. Check it out.
I am loving the Advent devotional I’ve been reading. They’ve centered me, opened my heart and mind again to the realities of this beautiful love story we are all in. Here’s what I’m reading this year: Ann Voskamp‘s has beautiful imagery and scripture, Richard Rohr’s I read every year for it’s contemplative reminders, and I found an excellent YouVersion app one based in the Christmas scripture.
Life continues to surprise me. God shows up in the most unexpected places! This weekend I was so happy to have an evening with my beautiful family Friday, had a home full of friends for a party Saturday, a morning at church and a day trip with the parents to Baltimore.
We checked out a new Triple D restaurant/bar in Johnny Rad’s in Baltimore. All of us highly recommend it! Great drinks, great food, fun atmosphere.
First BODYFLOW min-quarterly from LesMills was a great time Sunday! Thankful to be able to teach classes like this, get some more education, a mom who actually loves to do this stuff with me, and a dad who enjoys driving us and finding great places to eat 😉
