Second Sunday of Advent

Today starts the second week of advent. Advent is a time of vigilant waiting; I wait for something mysterious and unscheduled, with quiet excitement, and expectation. If I fall asleep to this awareness I risk missing the moment of joy, courage, or insight; the gift of grace that has the potential to feed me in ways I need.

Agenda today:

1. Journal queries

2. Word #3 - Covenant

3. Advent wreath ceremony

4. Plan activities for unity and peace

1. Journal queries:
At the birth of Jesus, Luke wrote that the angels proclaimed peace on earth and goodwill for all (the non-violent peace of justice, not Caesar's peace by conquest).

How can I work now to create the conditions of peace in my community and world?
How can I become better at feeling and exhibiting goodwill for all?

2. Word #3 - Covenant:

I'm reading a Pendle Hill pamphlet called Marking the Quaker Path: Seven Key Words Plus One, by Robert Griswold. This speaks to the condition of many Friends in my Meeting, who are ready to go deeper on this journey, and a large group of us are studying this booklet together this year.

Griswold uses seven key words that come to us from our Quaker history, that were developed to help us sense where we are on the Quaker path, and where we are going. He says these words will help us all to see how the Quaker path unfolds - but only if we "bring them into our experience so they are sealed in our hearts ... Friends from George Fox on have sought to avoid a faith that is notional, that is, just based on imagined or abstract thinking. So it is vital that we come to own these words through experiencing them in our lives".

We should consider these words more as growth markers than as concepts, as part of a sequence. I wrote about My Experience last month, and the word this month is Covenant.

Griswold talks about the difference between a covenant and a contract. We can't have a contractual agreement with God ("I'll be good if you keep safe") because that would presume that we have some control in the relationship. Obviously, "Divine Reality doesn't bargain, and if we try it we will fail." No, our relationship with the Divine is "unconditional and permanent, or it is nothing ... The only genuine relationship we can have with the Divine is when we enter into a covenant that is open to whatever may come".

Griswold goes on to describe a sacred covenant: A promise of the heart to perfect a relationship with God, staying open to what is ... and living what we are. We will make mistakes, overcome them, and strive for better. "A covenant with Divine Reality is a pledge that we will honor and come back to if we get off track."

3. Advent wreath ceremony:

Tonight (and every night this week) we will light two advent candles, and recite two prayers:

"We light the first candle for the earth, which sustains us. May we cherish and care for it."

"We light the second candle for all the people of the world. May we find unity and peace."

4. Plan activities for unity and peace:

This week my theme is "Striving to find unity and peace with all the people of the world".

That's  a huge goal! Rather than get overwhelmed, though, I plan to do a little something positive each day.

Things I might do this week to create unity and peace:

• be peaceful within myself;
• be in harmony with people I interact with;
• work to learn about and appreciate traditions and beliefs of people throughout the world;
• study an issue that is relevant to human rights in the world at this time;
• challenge myself to work to create the conditions of peace (justice, equality, and freedom) in my family and community.

My life might seem insignificant in the vastness of the universe, but each life is essential to the well being of the whole. I demonstrate my compassion with small acts of kindness and generosity. When I renew this intention each day, the opportunities to show goodwill appear with regularity.