How much is this blog worth?

A good question for "black friday" when we are obsessed with shopping....

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

how can we thank God enough?

As I most likely won't be posting from my parents house this weekend, today seems as appropriate a time as ever to reflect on the opening phrase of the Epistle for Advent 1c. "How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?

As an estimated 38 million americans travel "home" today I can't help but think about how many will be thanking God for the joy that comes from family. Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks. So often, anymore, it seems as though it is merely the ribbon cutting ceremony required to get to black friday shopping (with some stores opening at midnight this year) and ultimately to Christmas.

What would Thanksgiving look like if we took the time to sit and ponder just how we might thank God enough? I know we can't do it. To thank God enough for the joys of this life would preclude us from complaining about the pains. To thank God enough for the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of his Son would take every living moment we have. To thank God enough for our "family" and our "home" whatever form that takes means moving past petty disagreements to see the blessing each member and their history have been in our lives.

How can we thank God enough? Well, I'm thinking we can't. But what we can do is be intentional. We can take some real time to contemplate all we have to be thankful for. We can read through some prayers of thanksgiving (maybe the litany or Charlie Price's General Thanksgiving in the BCP). We can articulate our gratuity to our family and friends. How can we thank God enough? We can't. How can we thank God? By thanking those who he has placed in our lives.

Thank you to all who read this blog. Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

light and living waters

As I plod through life from day to day it is so easy to forget just how out of tune this life is with the vision of God for his creation. Compare, if you will, the DC Metro area with the Garden of Eden. Is there anything here that God intended from the beginning? Errr? I've got nuthin'.

Then, thanks only to the Lectionary, I stumble upon the Zechariah reading for Advent 1c. In it, we begin to see how God will restore this corrupt planet.
- There shall not be either cold or frost
- There shall be continuous day
- Living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem
- The LORD will become king over all the earth
- The LORD will be one and his name one

Our liturgical seasons are not doubt Eurocentric, so the fact that Advent falls in late fall/early winter works only for us in the north, let's run with it anyway. It's cold. It's dark by 5. Advent is, quite literally, a time of darkness. It is, quite literally, time spent contemplating what it feels like to be without the refining fire of God. It points out just how out of tune we are with God's hopes and dreams.

What would it look like if the radiance of God made it continuously day? Do we want to feel the warmth of God's love all year-round? What would it feel like to be washed in the living water flowing from God's throne?

Most importantly - Will we be ready for the LORD to be king over all the earth? Or are we set in our ways? Do we like the darkness? Do we like the cold? Do we like to be outside of God's plan, in charge of our own destiny? I know I do. It scares me to think that I will stand exposed by the light. It scares me to think that I will drink the living water daily. It is hard to comprehend what it will be like to stand in the presence of uncompromising love. And yet, in spite of all the fear and discomfort, I know it will be glorious. I know it will be good. I know that I want to stand in the comfort of God's mighty love.

where am i

Because I preached three times yesterday I took it upon myself (actually Cassie commanded me) to sleep in this morning. So I got up at about 830 and prepared for spiritual direction. That being said, I didn't have time to spend my usual time in Scripture this morning. So now I'm sitting in Scott Lounge with Mitch and Ari as we each pretend to do the work we came to do. Mostly we sit in silence for a minute or two, then somebody cracks a joke, we laugh, then we return our attention (sort of) to our work.

I've decided its really hard to spend time with God in prayer in a situation like this, but I continue to sit here with the readings and typing on this blog anyway. There are two reasons for this. One, I'm a sucker for community. I seek out people like its my job. I hate sitting by myself when I know people are around.

The other reason is its Advent. Its a time of waiting and a time of darkness. A time that is very uncomfortable to me. I'm not good at uncertainty. I like things to be within the plan. I like things to tick off on my to-do list. I don't like "distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves." There is no mention of what the signs will be in Luke 21, but just that there will be signs. I don't like this uncertainty. I just don't like it.

So, I guess this is the main reason I'm avoiding doing real work. As I sit on the cusp of GOEs, job searching, and am having a real family crisis with my mom's yet undiagnosed illness, I'm really struggling with with uncertainty. Spiritual direction today helped me understand this struggle, and opened my eyes to this month of uncertainty and darkness that is about to be upon us. I guess I'll be forced to come to terms with these themes over the next month, but for today, I'm procrastinating. Today I'm not dealing with it. Today, I'm laughing with friends.