Today’s Advent thinking has been around purity verses compassion.

In the gospels we see this all the time with the Pharisees getting so embroiled and concerned about their purity laws and their need for personally being clean before God, that they lose the ability to look upon situations with any compassion. Their negative reactions to healings occurring on the sabbath show this.

If we are called to follow Christ then one thing must always be above the law – and that one thing is love. As we look over our communities, our personal need to be right before God must always be secondary to our love for others. As Bodenheim states:

‘Healing our communities is more important than being concerned about our own holiness.‘

I have reflected here on how often and how regularly I have failed here in different ways. Purity before compassion sounds right as it seems to be echoing the command of putting God first. But the reality of putting God first is authentically displayed in our level of compassion displayed to others over and above our personal needs.

Today’s thought has been focussing my attention on Jesus and how he used the power that he obviously had. We suspect we can all think of examples of people abusing their power both within and outside church circles.

Whether we like it or not, it is white middle class people that posses power in this world. We look at the gospel stories and admire Jesus for speaking out against the authorities. Jesus chastises the power holders and confronts them with the abuses ‘they are allowing to happen. Because we are people with the power we miss much of this in the gospels.

An example I have looked at recently is the story of the widow and her coin in Mark chapter 12. Jesus says she has given more than anyone else and this has been traditionally taken to mean what a great sacrificial character she has. That is a reading of the story from the position of power.

An alternative (and I would suggest more accurate) reading from the viewpoint of the powerless’ could be that Jesus is drawing attention to the abuse of power displayed here by the scribes and Pharisees in demanding payment to th temple. Rather than the point being praise for this woman’s sacrifice, Jesus could be chastising the authorities over their ability to take even this poor womans last few coins to maintain their structures. From their position of power they are willing to see a poor widow become poor and hungry to serve their own needs.

They have lost the plot despite clear commands in scripture to look after the widow. They deny clear commands to care for the destitute in order to maintain the ‘holyness’ of a certain place with certain structures.

If Jesus were here today … what would he say to us as the people who hold power in our circles of influence?

Todays Advent thought was based around hospitality.
Today I have been asking myself the question
‘What is hospitality in the 21st century when we are all rushing around’.
I think hospitality is about slowing down and caring.
It is about spending time, and opening homes, sharing meals …
but I think it is so much more;
it’s about sharing my life,
its about thinking my life is worth sharing,
as much as it is about …
thinking the other person is worth the time to share mt life with.

Today I have been attempting to ‘listen to the heartbeat of God, by being attentive to the presence of God within creation, by looking within my heart’ (quote from Disturbing Complacency).

It’s hard to hear as I’ve lived in a world that for so long has taught me to separate the holy and unholy, the sacred and secular, the spirit and the body. But, if God created it all, and God is in all, those distinctions cannot exist.

God in the everyday, God in my created body, God in my flesh, I am trying to hear you today!

Paperless Christmas looks like a cool advent Calender.
It’s my favourite of lots out there.

Sunday is the first day of Advent and I am looking forward to starting a reflective journey using Disturbing Complacency from Sunday.

I know of at least one other person that will be attemptingthis particular Advent journey, its probably too late to et the book now unless you find it in some Christian bookshop somewhere, but there is nothing to stop you joining in the discussion and ordering the book to arrive in advent.

I like the expectancy that comes with Advent. The waiting, the looking, the anticipation of the arrival of the King. In a society that worships the instant, I think Advent is a time for a reality check, to reconsider who we are, what we are motivated by, what we are waiting for and ultimately, I guess, where our authentic focus is.

By authentic focus I mean that desire within us that drives us; the thoughts we go to sleep with at night and are hanging in our minds when our eyes open in the morning – a new car, a new apple mac, an iphone, a house …. my relationship with God.

I would love to be able to say that I go to sleep with and wake up with God in my mind, but often it is those other things of distraction. I admit that I have been sucked in by the worship of the instant in our society.

I hope Advent will allow me to wake up with God hanging in my mind more often.

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