For this Advent and Christmastide, we are deepening into the question of How Does a Weary World Rejoice? You can follow along with daily devotionals on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
When was the last time you remember being really amazed? Not just surprised, but dumbstruck with amazement. Reflecting on the rhythm and events of your week, you might find it hard to bring this easily to mind.
One of my early mentors told me that the heart of the spiritual life is gratitude and wonder. And yet, the more we lean into adulthood, the more responsibilities we have, the more we read the news, the more we engage with the complications of daily life, the more we lose our sense of wonder.
How often do we stop and take note of the miraculous, the ornate, the unfathomable right in front of us: photos of the cosmos, the continuous unfolding of life in the budding plants, and evolving animals, the seasonal rhythms of our planet?
This Advent we are lingering in the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah, the elderly, first-time parents of John the Baptist. The idea that they could have a child in their advanced ages is amazing enough. This Sunday, we’ll remember when their little wild child was born and how Zechariah was finally able to speak after nine months (Luke 1:57-66). The scripture says that everyone was filled with awe and news about it spread throughout the countryside. These first century folks recognized that God was up to something amazing.
How can we better lean into amazement? How might it reframe our lives? Reframe our understanding of God in our lives?
Come Sunday and we’ll deepen together into this spiritual practice of being amazed.
In faith,
Kent
Image: Watercourses, inspired by Psalm 126, by Hannah Garrity, © a sanctified art | sanctifiedart.org
