I like to begin the Advent season with the question: What wants to be born in me now?
I’m aware that birth entails darkness, waiting and quiet time. What are the gifts to be found in darkness and in waiting? In my part of the world, Advent comes in a time of darkness. The days are shorter. We don’t see as much of the sun. While I sometimes complain about that, I know there are gifts as well. Think of the darkness of the womb that, in time, produces a precious new life. Or the darkness of the ground in which a seed is planted, from which a green and growing shoot will appear. Or the darkness in a cocoon from which will emerge a beautiful butterfly. In those images we understand the nurturing and nourishing aspect of darkness.
These images cause me to reflect on the penitential side of my Advent journey, too. Of what do I need to let go? What do I need to shed? What needs changing in my life so that I can bring more of God’s light into the world? So that I can be a Christ-bearer?
This message is excerpted from “A Different Kind of Journey” by Sonia Solomonson, a 2011 resource of the Women of the ELCA.
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Sonia, I am a follower of you and your mom and dad from long ago. My husband, Don Shifflet, you may remember from First Presbyterian, Bloominton, Illinois.