Song: Come All Who are Weary by Paul Zach
Welcome to our Advent Online Retreat!
This year, we will join in with Kate Bowler's Advent Devotions titled The Weary World Rejoices (see below) in which she explores the Advent promises of Truth, Compassion, Restoration, and Justice. These divine promises can support us in times of weariness, creating a solid foundation where we experience rest amidst life's storms. In this first week, we will focus on Truth.
It takes courage to wrap our minds around the inconvenient truths,
the difficult truths, the complicated and seemingly contradictory truths.
God has made us for truth-telling,
to have eyes that glimpse through tears
at the already-and-not-yet that we live in. (Kate Bowler)
Truth as a resting place
Truth provides us with a place of rest. There's no need to strive intensely for acceptance and admiration. We can relax our urgent desire to change the reality of a challenging situation into something more appealing or bearable. Instead, we can acknowledge the truth, allow room for the many emotions that emerge, and re-establish our connection with the Divine through the eternal promises of Advent.
Truth begins within us. Do we speak truth to ourselves? It might surprise us how often we hide the truth from ourselves, especially when the days are darkest and world events feel threatening In a letter to Sister Elizabeth Ann, Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, encourages her to look within:
Always be true to the deepest and purest aspirations of your soul. Be true to your own deepest self, the real "you", the inner self that is one with God. You may not always be aware of this inmost self. But there are times when, obscurely, at least, you KNOW what is best in you, and you can tell what road God wants you to travel. It does not have to be anything spectacular or unusual. It may simply be what is right in front of you. But it must be a way that enables you to be true to yourself, quietly, peacefully, patiently.
Looking inward at our own truth is not always easy but it can be supported by knowing our essential identity as God's beloved. In his book Bread for the Journey, Henri Nouwen encourages readers to claim and return to our truest identity:
"Prayer is listening to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved. It is to constantly go back to the Truth of who we are and claim it for ourselves. I'm not what I do. I'm not what people say about me. I'm not what I have. My life is not rooted in the world, the things the world gives me. My life is rooted in the truth of my spiritual identity. Whatever we do — we have to go back regularly to that place of core identity.”
The freedom of truth
“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:31-32, NRSVUE
Have you ever experienced the lightness and liberation that come with truth? Even when truth is challenging to face, there is often a subtle feeling of authenticity and freedom. As Kate Bowler says above, God made us for truth telling. By accepting our truth, grounded in the promises of Advent, we are able to gradually release our ego's need to control everything around us, becoming lighter in body, mind, and spirit.
Luminous is the word of Truth; like
a laser beam, it cuts through
ignorance and illusion. . . .
Blessed are those who choose Truth.
Their path is made straight,
their spirit freed to soar.
~Nan Merrill
For reflection:
How might truth give you a place of rest, quiet and peace this Advent?
What truths feel solid to you now?
Think back to your stormiest of seasons. What false truths did you have to let go of? What did you discover to be true about yourself even then? About God? (K. Bowler)
You may wish to begin Advent with a renewed commitment to truth: particularly in what you say (to yourself and others), how you move through each day, and how you act towards others. You might catch yourself in moments when you do not feel in alignment with your truest identity. When that happens, simply pause, and re-center as God's beloved. And go on...
Blessing:
May this Advent be the new beginning,
as we learn to live by the light
of your coming promises.
Glimpsing the world through tears,
while also seeing something
sacred shining through too.
Our Truth. Our Light.
Our Promise incarnate.
Amen.
(Kate Bowler)
Closing Song: May You Find a Light by The Brilliance
Resources:
Bowler, Kate, "The Weary World Rejoices," A Devotional Through Advent's Promises, from Everything Happens, katebowler.com, 2024.
Merton, Thomas, "Another Stop on "The Road to Joy" A Letter, 1960 (source unknown)
Nouwen, Henri, Bread for the Journey, "The Still Small Voice of Love," San Francisco, CA: Harper One, 1997.
Merrill, Nan, Lumen Christi...Holy Wisdom, New York, NY:The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002.
Note: For our Advent Retreat this year, we are following Kate Bowler's A Weary World Rejoices, a daily Advent resource which you may download for free at katebowler.com/advent.
(Our Advent Retreat is free, but you may make a donation towards our Sacred Rhythms programming, by sending a check payable to Donna Holstein at 2917 Village Green Lane, Eagleville PA 19403) or contact Donna to use Venmo or PayPal. Thank you.)
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