"For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish,
but have eternal life."
(John 3:16, NRSV)
In the introduction to her lovely Advent book "All Creation Waits," Gayle Boss writes about the ancient roots of Advent. Following the harvesting of crops and shared feasting, winter's cold and dark descended and people felt tense, sad, and fearful. Of course, in the midst of our current-day busy holiday shopping and celebrating, we are often unaware of this primal unease, deep within us. Boss believes Advent can help us hold these deepest feelings, and writes:
"Advent, to the Church Fathers, was the right naming of the season when light and life are fading. They urged the faithful to set aside four weeks to fast, give and pray -- all ways to strip down, to let the bared soul recall what it knows beneath its fear of the dark, to know what Jesus called "the one thing necessary": that there is One who is the source of all life, One who comes to be with us and in us, even, especially, in darkness and death. One who brings a new beginning...
God's great love for us brings us a new beginning. John 3:16 is a foundational statement of God's leaning in Love towards us. As we anticipate the Christmas story (the coming of Christ into the world to give us eternal life), it begins with God's Word of favor and blessing, first spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel:
Gabriel's Message - VOCES8
The angel Gabriel from heaven came His wings as drifted snow His eyes as flame "All hail" said he "thou lowly maiden Mary Most highly favored lady, " Gloria, Gloria
"For known a blessed mother thou shalt be
All generations laud and honor thee
Thy Son shall be Emanuel
By seers foretold
Most highly favored lady, " Gloria, Gloria
Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head "To me be as it pleaseth God, " she said, "My soul shall laud and magnify His holy name." Most highly favored lady, Gloria, Gloria
Of her, Emanuel, the Christ was born
In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn
and Christian folk throughout the world will ever say
"Most highly favored lady," Gloria, Gloria!
This proclamation of love and favor enables Mary to go forward into what lay ahead. And in the same way, God's Love empowers us for the unfolding of our lives.
Bishop Michael Curry writes, "God may be the source of love, but people are the vessels."
Mary consented to be a vessel for divine love, even if she did not understand what that might mean.
Poet/author Wendell Berry writes, "Love is what carries you, for it is always there, even in the dark, or most in the dark, but shining out at times, like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery."
Mary was a vessel. She carried God's Love, and was herself carried by that love.
The following song, "Always Carry You" by Matt Maher and Amy Grant speaks beautifully to being a vessel of Love.
Prayer: by Jan Richardson
You hollow us out, God
so that we may carry you,
and you endlessly fill us
only to be emptied again.
Make smooth our inward spaces
and sturdy,
that we may hold you
with less resistance
and bear you
with deeper grace.
for reflection:
Rooted in the foundational Love of God expressed in John 3:16, how do you see yourself as a vessel?
Where and when does God's love carry you?
What does God invite you to hold or carry?
This Advent, can you listen to the quiet stirrings within, hold both the eager anticipation but also places of sadness and fear, and trust that God has made a way through the dying and darkness -- a new beginning -- His Son.
Sources:
Boss, Gayle. "All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings," p. xi, The Paraclete Press, Brewster, MA, 2016. (This is a very lovely and unique Advent book; each day features a different animal and how it is moving through the growing dark and cold of winter.)
Richardson, Jan, "Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas," p. 45, United Church Press, Cleveland, OH, 1998. (This is an old favorite of Linda's and mine.)
The Bishop Curry and Wendell Berry quotes were found in "Seasons of Wonder: Making the Ordinary Sacred Through Projects, Prayers, Reflections and Rituals" by Bonnie Smith Whitehouse," Convergent Books, New York, 2022. (I highly recommend this book of 52 weeks of devotions)
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