Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Monk in Docs.
Welcome to Towards the Light,
An Advent Journey.
Now here we go on day one,
Commencing Advent,
A season of anticipation and preparation,
Marking the four weeks leading up to Christmas.
It's a time of reflection,
Where we pause amidst the busyness of life to focus on the coming of Christ,
Both as a child in Bethlehem and as the promised hope for the future.
Rooted in themes of waiting and longing and renewal,
Advent invites us to align our hearts with God's story,
Finding light in the midst of darkness.
Through practices like prayer,
Scripture,
Reading and acts of kindness,
We open ourselves to deeper faith and a sense of holy expectation.
Advent teaches us to live with hope,
Trusting in God's promises while we wait.
Now Advent truly begins with longing,
A kind of deep,
Wordless ache.
Isaiah,
In Isaiah chapter 9,
Described it as a people walking in darkness.
In other words,
A people searching,
Straining towards a distant light.
And that tension,
That in-between space of not yet but already,
That is where Advent lives.
Thomas Merton once wrote,
You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it's all going.
What you need is to recognise the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment and to embrace them with courage,
Faith and hope,
End quote.
Advent is the season of possibility,
Not because everything is clear,
But because we open our hearts to God in the uncertainty.
In Romans chapter 8,
St.
Paul writes this,
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Not only so,
But we ourselves,
Who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
Groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption,
The redemption of our bodies.
For in this hope we were saved,
But hope that is seen is no hope at all.
Who hopes for what they have already seen?
But if we hope for what we do not yet have,
We wait for it patiently,
End quote.
Just stop and think about these questions for a moment.
What is your soul longing for right now?
Is it peace?
Is it connection?
Is it healing of some kind?
Or maybe it's something you can't quite name.
Whatever the case,
Know that it is okay to sit with that longing,
To feel its weight.
Remember that waiting isn't passive.
Waiting is an active hope.
Think about that just for a moment.
Waiting is like opening a door to let in light.
It's leaning into the quiet and making space for God to enter.
Not in our time,
But in God's time.
What might happen if you allowed yourself to truly lean into this waiting?
To sit not with answers,
But with the anticipation of God's presence breaking through.
As we begin this Advent journey,
May you lean into the quiet moments.
May you feel the ache of longing as an invitation,
Not a burden.
May you let the tension of waiting crack open your heart just enough for God's light to slip through.
May you walk this season not with rushing,
But with wonder.
May you find courage to sit with your longing and let it draw you ever closer to God.
Here's a question for you to carry into your day today.
What is the light you are walking towards?
May grace,
Peace,
And love go with you today in this first day of Advent and with you through the remainder of Advent.
I look forward to walking these next 25 days with you.
Grace,
Peace,
And love.
See you tomorrow.
