Advent 2023 Week Two
coming into being
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Preparing means that you are expecting something. From small events like meal prep to lifetime events like preparing for the birth of a child to existential motives like preparing your family and home to weather a natural disaster, preparation is always linked with expectation.
The word Advent means "coming or coming into being," and during this season, we are preparing. Advent is a season set apart, a holy season. In the growing darkness, as nature herself stills and flowing water freezes, Advent invites us to prepare our inner being for the coming into being of a new reality.
For those whose spirituality centers on the natural world, the winter solstice marks the powerful moment in the year when the darkness of winter gives way to the returning sun. The growing light marks the passing from death to returning life. This shift is imperceptible initially, and there are many long months before spring becomes the new reality.
For those who also embrace the deeper meaning of the winter solstice, Advent is a sign and wonder illustrating the coming of One who revives souls who are struggling like a flickering flame about to be snuffed out by the darkness. Indeed, some souls have already died while the body still lives. Dead Inside is a common expression and a state of being for many. Yet we are preparing for the promise that One is coming who will never stamp out a struggling flame; on the contrary, he will fan the flame of inner spiritual life and revive it until it burns brightly.
In the darkness, we are encouraged to prepare to receive a miraculous gift within ourselves. Nature shows us the way. We must become quiet, calm the flow of fearful emotions, and, in stillness, cultivate a heart and soul receptive to a new way of being. Like the Earth, we prepare to be reborn and have our souls reignited through love.
Preparation looks different for each person, but it is necessary in the same way cultivating the soil is required before planting seeds.
Where is this week's Advent invitation of "preparation" leading you? What does it mean to prepare your soul? How will you create stillness and calm the flow of fearful emotions within yourself? Do you resist the new way of being that is about to arrive? Do you feel like a flickering flame about to be extinguished?
Preparation allows you to be a part of what is coming. To expect it is the first step to embracing it. Advent is a sacred time but also an active time in an inward way.
Tell me in the comments what preparations look like for you this week.
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Jan, I would just like to say a big thank you for your posts. I feel like I am in a dark place, but there is hope. This is a process, an internal growth. What you wrote today was what I needed to hear. I am trying to accept all of me, including these dark places, and to love myself. Trying to be open and receptive and learn to be still and be. Thank you so much. 💜
I liked the previous two comments because I share some of the sentiments and experiences.
I like your contemplation of preparation, Jan.
This time of the year for me is about coming home to self, to nest. The worse the weather, the better, it offers a good excuse to stay inward focused and feel the comfort of dwelling and nurturing.
The increasing light of advent candles lid to celebrate and anticipate growth, evolution and the promise of cycles and seasons, is what I delight in. 🤗⛄️🎄💫Thank you for sharing and perspective. Enriching ✨