Waiting for God

Last night at our listening for the soul group we talked about advent as the season of waiting for God. Why the distinction between advent and Christmas? What is important about waiting? We talk about the presence of God always being there so why wait? I do think there are times in life when we are not spiritually ready or prepared for the holy to break in (or out of) us. Waiting can be a spiritual discipline. It can be a time of development and maturing. It can be about learning to be at peace with wherever you are at on your journey and knowing that you won’t always be at this place. Instead of only looking ahead, being able to look around us right now and hold the injustices and pain and gifts of this moment in our hearts and love this moment too. Loving this moment, but filled with hope for now and the future.

May you see many holy moments on your way through advent this year.  – lanette

Tuesday November 26th group

Hello Soul Listeners.

Tomorrow is our last group before Christmas. We will talk about where we are struggling and where we are succeeding in our listening practices. We will also spend some time reflecting on the upcoming Christmas season and how to listen for God’s presence and how do we recognize more and more of the world around us as holy.

See you tomorrow at 730pm 3333 Kaslo Street Community of Christ.

All are welcome.-Lanette

Deliberation

This was our final reflection at this evening’s meeting:

Deliberation

Constant slow movement teaches us
to keep working like a small creek
that stays clear, that does not stagnate,
but finds a way through numerous
details, deliberately.

Deliberation is born of joy
like a bird from an egg.

Birds do not resemble eggs.
Think how different the hatching out is.

A white leathery snake egg, a sparrow’s egg,
a quince seed, an apple seed.
Very different things look similar at one stage.

These leaves, our bodily personalities,
seem identical, but the globe
of soul fruit we make,
each is elaborately
unique.

-Rumi
Translation by Coleman Barks

Finding grace in my day

I work in a mall and on my lunch breaks I tend to go for walks around the mall (no wallet!) to people-watch, window shop, and just stretch my legs a bit. In case there was any doubt at all, Christmas is definitely getting close, and it’s nearness is felt as I watch festive window displays go up and see holiday-themed goods for sale. Setting aside the questions raised lately in the media about whether this early arrival of festivity takes away from the solemnity Remembrance Day (I am not yet convinced it does), I’d like to talk about the glimpses of grace I’ve seen this past week.

Yes a mall is basically a temple to consumerism, and I realize that, but grace and God can show up anywhere. There was a flash of grace as my co-worker’s eyes lit up when I told him about the Eight Days of tea Chanukah tea set – “perfect for my mom!” He said.

And then there was the little bird (the one in the picture) I found waaaay in the back of a big store making me think of how beautiful our natural world gets as the weather changes and it gets cooler.

There’s also the relationships I’ve built with other workers in the mall where we can relate to one another’s woes in dealing with our little retail world getting busier and busier and our customers getting needier and needier. It can be a difficult time of year for many who work in retail, who don’t necessarily have a lot to spend, to nonetheless have to watch others spend heaps of money on gifts and celebrations. Having companionship with others in this time makes it easier to keep smiling.

So grace abounds now and I feel like I need to build up a grace buffer for mid-December when I know it will be hectic and crazy and hard to find grace.