Category: Life Notes

Season of Advent Hope, Day 2 Reading: “A liminal space is the time between the “what was” and the “next.” It is a place of transition, a season of waiting, and not knowing. Liminal space is where all transformation takes place, if we learn to wait and let it form us.”[1] Reflection: A limen is … Continue reading Season of Advent, Day 2

Season of Advent Hope, Day 1 Reading: “…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us...”[1] Reflection: Hope, the first theme of Advent, is not the same as wishing. We may wish for good weather on Saturday, something we have no control over, when what we hope … Continue reading Season of Advent: Hope, Day 1

Season of Advent: Peace, Day 7 Reading: “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”[1] Reflection: For lasting peace to prevail between two people or nations, there must first exist a foundation of mutual respect and trust, some degree of understanding of the other, and an acknowledgement that all points … Continue reading Season of Advent: Peace, Day 7

Season of Advent: Peace, Day 6 Reading: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”[1] Reflection: How has Christmas, the celebration, strayed so far from its origins? Did not the angels sing of “Peace on Earth” in Bethlehem 2000 years ago? Was that peace intended to apply … Continue reading Season of Advent: Peace, Day 6

Season of Advent: Peace, Day 5 Reading: “The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.”[1] Reflection: In its common usage, peace is not a singular concept but has many applications, several of which are relevant in preparing for the birth of the Christ-child. One common understanding of … Continue reading Season of Advent: Peace, Day 5

Season of Advent: Peace, Day 4 Reading: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”[1] Reflection: In war, peace comes when one side surrenders to the other. In business, peace may come through consensus where competing sides find a resolution … Continue reading Season of Advent: Peace, Day 4

Season of Advent: Peace, Day 3 Reading: “Christmas comes with many assumptions – some helpful, some not so much. Spirituality also comes with many assumptions, and the ones that fail us are the ones we make about what it’s supposed to look like, who is worthy for it to happen to, and what kind of … Continue reading Season of Advent: Peace, Day 3

Season of Advent: Peace, Day 2 Reading: “He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in the place of the two, thus making peace.”[1] Reflection: The more than 600 laws set out in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) to guide … Continue reading Season of Advent: Peace, Day 2

Season of Advent: Peace, Day 1 Reading: “For a child has been born for us…and he is named…Prince of Peace”[1] Reflection: Peace, the first theme of Advent, springs from the Hope we find as we experience Emmanuel – God with us. Peace comes as we learn to trust that God’s presence within and around us … Continue reading Season of Advent: Peace, Day 1

Third Day of Thanksgiving Reading: “Are not five sparrows sold for one penny? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.”[1] Reflection: A helpful exercise for growing our gratitude is to stop overlooking the ordinary in search of the extraordinary so we can find the extraordinary in the ordinary. The Christmas stories in … Continue reading Third Day of Thanksgiving