Welcome to Pushing Pause! A once a month newsletter where we push pause to explore faith, rest and beauty in our everyday lives.
Hello and happy holiday season to you! I keep shaking my head wondering how we can possibly already find ourselves in December. Several months ago I started a new job working as a literacy intervention teacher part time. Like with all new things, it’s taken some time to get acclimated and adjust to the new rhythm. I’m also nearing the end of my 3rd semester in my program for spiritual direction certification. It’s been rewarding to be meeting with and offering spiritual direction with a few directees this semester. While at times the work load, along with my job and family’s needs, can feel like a lot, I’m continually thankful for this path. That said, I’ve had to do my own pushing pause on writing as often as I would like in order to honor my capacity for how much I can hold. Here are some thoughts I’ve been chewing on this Advent season.
The universal pull of nostalgia seems strongest at Christmas time. We hang the cherished ornaments of thumb-print snowmen made years ago by tiny hands. Familiar songs take us back to Christmases of the past. We make grandma’s cookie recipe that maybe isn’t even that good but is always made for the sake of tradition. We retell the old family stories and laugh like it’s the first time we’ve heard them. We find comfort in remembering the good moments of the past.
I often find this true for myself in the Advent season as I look back to the sacred and familiar story of Jesus, God in flesh, coming as a baby. We tell the stories of young Mary visited by the angel and her humble response, Jesus arriving unexpectedly among the livestock, and wise men from afar making a long journey to see for themselves a promise fulfilled. We tell and retell these stories with a bit of nostalgia for the hope it holds. This reflection and remembering help to root us in our faith and in this story. However, I have to remind myself that it’s not just about looking back at the Messiah’s audacious arrival. It’s just as necessary for us to look at the ways we are still a people of waiting and to see how Jesus is still breaking forth here and now.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
The words of that verse aren’t just ancient words of comfort for the people of that time, they are for us too. We are also people of waiting. We have seen the great light. The light broke through the flesh of Mary to come to a weary world as God incarnate in the life of Jesus. The light of Christ now dwells, not just among us, but in us. Holding hands with hope we join the work of Christ to bring more light and love in the here and now moments of this world while also holding the tension of waiting for a final fulfillment of all the justice, beauty, love, and peace we yearn for in our souls. We are not just looking back with nostalgia but looking forward with hope. With all of our confusion, questions, impatience, and wondering we retell the stories of scripture and we can sense the weight of waiting. We have seen the great light though, the light has dawned and we no longer wait in darkness.
A Resource
Kate Bowler’s podcast episode, the season of waiting includes a beautiful Advent reading (she’s got a free downloadable Advent resource too!). The ending of the episode has listeners sharing their holiday traditions for honoring loved ones they’ve lost. It left me in a puddle of tears! However, if that might be too tender for you, just listen to the first half of the episode and you’ll hear a clear break before that part begins.
A Practice
Name your longing: Jesus was the fulfillment of a centuries old promise that many longed for, though not fulfilled how they might have imagined. We celebrate that this season but we still find ourselves longing. What are you longing for?
Take some moments to sit in quiet with that question: What do I long for?
Now share that in prayer with God knowing that the longings of your heart are seen and known by a loving God who laid down everything to dwell among us.
I hope you have a beautiful season, however that might look like for you this year. Thanks for reading! - Lindsay