Tag: Joy

A Sense of Wonder

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Advent has been called a mini-Lent, because it is also a season of penitence. The difference between Lent and Advent is that during Lent, we prepare for Christ’s crucifixion (and then resurrection), while in Advent, we prepare our hearts for Christ’s birth, and in another sense, for Christ’s Second Coming. Accordingly, Advent, while still a penitential season of preparation, is more joyful than Lent because of the anticipation of something new, something greater than ourselves, something that sparks hope for a better future for all God’s children – through our work, and our gifts that allow us to care for all, guided by the love that God has showed us.

Tickled Pink

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Over the centuries, several people have done the exact same thing as what Paul was suggesting, selling their possessions and camping out on a mountain top, waiting for the second coming of Jesus. These people made a decision that was guided by some form of hope, even within a life that is filled with daily responsibilities and duties. Partly because they saw it as a salvation from their present struggles. For them, future hope bested their present reality. And because of that, their hope came with a sense of urgency.

Un(ash)amed

By Daily Office Reflections, , , , , , ,

What motivates us to enter into these self-congratulatory states of inflated valuations of our own self-worth? We may indeed be better than some – by our own standards – but by our own standards we are also worse than others (Matt 7:1-2). Yet we still try and congratulate ourselves on our own righteousness, when standing before the God who reconciled us to Himself, no less.