United Methodist Church
Morgan Hill, California

Advent Meditations

Pecot's Putterings

My minstry comes most often not by intention or plan or design (all of which are important) but by milling around close to where God is. Pecot's Putterings is my attempt to articulate what I am bumping up against as I move around the congregation, questions asked and the wisdom of ages sought.

About twelve years ago, I began a spiritual journey to get in touch with some parts of myself that I didn't like very much. I was having a lot of trouble in my marriage and couldn't figure out why such a good person as myself was doing so many dumb, insensitive, and at times bad things. In therapy I used a tool to delve deeply into myself. The tool was image and imagination. There are many people these days using this tool to explore spirit, especially those studying the ways of Carl Jung and his followers, and those who are learning from Native American teachers.

There are levels of truth to anything important and ferreting out a more whole perspective on our lives often comes as we look through different eyes. When we need vision, we can move into the nature or into a dream, and may find an animal or person appears and by getting to know this figure, we unlock the key to clearsight.

My vision quest lasted something over four years. And in that time, I encountered five animals that called out to me. As I learned about them, they taught me about myself and my world. My experience can be interpreted quite spiritually or as a fairly obvious use of my imagination. It is through learning to look at the deep truths through other, sometimes quite alien eyes, that we learn the most about transformation.

Jesus was also an image person. He taught using images from everyday life that transformed and came alive in his stories. He invited his followers into the world of spirit and faith using images they knew, but which he gave startling new life. And that is why, I think, the stories at the beginnings of the gospels give us so many characters which engage us. Inviting Jesus into our lives is complicated process. But, by identifying with the images, seeing "where we are in the picture or the story" we come close to not only the message, but to the personal encounter with Jesus toward which each of the gospelers invite us.

So, in these next pages, I offer an Advent meditation. One exercise each day of Advent to hopefully deepen your spiritual readiness for Jesus this year. I invite you, each day, to look at life and God's entrance into it from a different perspective and from a different character in the stories. I don't expect that you will find all of these helpful. Some may seem crazy. But, perhaps one or two, drawn into yourself, will light a fire in you this year. I want you to spend a day with each image. Open your eyes to the world around you and let what you see, feel, and experience teach you about the birth of the Messiah within you. Everyone in the church who does this will experience something different, but with a common image. And perhaps, one image you will make your own as you come to Christmas.

Ted

Advent Meditations

Read the section of the Bible prescribed for each week. Do it as a family if that is possible. At least once at the beginning of the week. Then, during the week, I want you to pay attention, live into the image described for that day. Pay attention to what is around you, where you come into contact with that image, and where it is inside yourself. At the end of the day, you might talk about that image with your family to see differences that you all came up with. And then, personally think about the story from the perspective of that image.

For example: one of the exercises will be the image of water. That day pay attention to water in your life, brushing your teeth, showering, drinking, rain, the stream nearby. Tears in yours or someone's eyes. Everywhere you see or feel or think about water. So, at the evening when you read about Jesus going into the water to be baptized, you know something about water.

We are providing a page of cutouts you can put in your pocket or up on your refrigerator each day to remind you.

The Gospel of John (John 1:1-18)

In the Gospel of John there are no birth stories. We are introduced to our encounter with Jesus by looking at the ordered universe with Jesus in the middle of it as the creative Word of God from the beginning which lives on earth unrecognized. The Divine Light is hidden in darkness until a messenger, in the form of John the Baptist, comes to recognize it and tell us to see.

November 30, The Word.
Today use your ears and pay attention to words and see how they create things. What is the Word behind the words.

December 1, Light.
Today pay attention to Light, get to know light anew. Notice all the places where there is light, especially light that goes unnoticed.

December 2, Darkness.
All through the day, pay attention to darkness. Use your eyes but also your imagination. What is darkness like? What makes darkness darkness. How could darkness hide light?

December 3, A Person who is a Witness.
Who is a witness. Watch for witnesses today, someone who gives testimony or testifies. What is a witness like, what is expected of a witness, what are the characteristics of a good or a bad witness.

December 4, The World.
This divine word is for the world and goes out into the world. What is the world. Look around for what makes up the world today. Where do you hear the word world used.

December 5, The Law.
Today watch for the law. What is the law? How does it work? How do people feel about it? Where does it impact you? your children if you have any? Your friends?

The Gospel of Mark (Mark 1:1-13)

This Gospel also does not begin with birth stories but with Jesus baptism. We meet him as he walks out of the middle of his life, out of the desert to the river where John the Baptist is preaching. As Jesus is baptized, the Heavens open up and a voice is heard, this is my beloved son with whom I am pleased.

December 7, The Prophet.
In the gospel, a brusque man in bad clothes making himself loud and obnoxious bears the message of the Messiah. Where are there people like this? Look for them today and see how you feel about them?

December 8, The Wilderness.
What is wilderness in your world today? Where do you see it, where do you experience it? What is wilderness like? What do you find in the wilderness? How does it feel? What is the wilderness around us? In our homes? In our dreams and hearts?

December 9, A River.
Today pay attention to Water. All day watch how much water there is around, how you need it, how you feel about it when you get or don't get it. What are the different forms of water and what would it be like to come out of some of them.

December 10, A Dove.
There are lots of doves around, both symbolically and actually. Look around for doves today. Where are they, what are they doing? Perhaps drive by the church and look at our dove window or on other buildings. How does a dove fly, eat, sing?

December 11, A Parent Praising their Child.
Watch the parent and watch the children. Think about being praised or giving praise yourself.

December 12, The Tempter.
Who are the tempters around you today? Who comes out of the middle of your life to invite you to something that isn't what God would want? What are some of the temptations and how do you deal with them?

The Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1: 1 - 2:18)

The Gospel of Matthew emphasizes the royalty of God. No shepherds and cows, Jesus is announced by angels and heralded by kings. He is pursued by an evil King and saved by divine intervention. The book of Matthew begins with a genealogy of royalty and power and Jesus is found by wise ones reading the signs in the heavens.

December 14, A Family.
(genealogy) Who are your ancestors, how do people's families enter into a day. Do you know about your genealogy. What does it mean to you?

December 15, A Father.
In the story this week, it is the father who receives the messages, in a dream. So, pay attention to fathers and especially how they receive information. But it is also a day to pay attention to dreams. How do dreams come? What kind of information do they have? How is your life affected by dreams? If an angel spoke to you in a dream would you know it? Night and day dreams.

December 16, The Evil Ruler.
Certainly the newspaper today will be filled with news of good and evil rulers. What are evil rulers doing? But there are also many things that rule your life. How do they do it, and what impact to the evil ones have on you?

December 17, Wise People.
Who are the wise people today? Are they really wise? Who are the people who are traveling around seeking understanding? Do you know any? What are they like? Perhaps pay attention today to people who are asking questions, all kinds of questions.

December 18, Stars.
You are likely to find stars in many places today. Watch for them at night and in the morning if you can, but also watch for symbols and pictures. If you watch TV today, note that stars are used as special affects quite a bit, where?

December 19, The Road.
Today pay attention to all the roads you come in contact with. Roads for cars, feet, skies, communication, imagination. What travels down your roads, what are they like, what makes for a good or bad road?

The Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:5 - 2:20)

Luke has an agenda. He sees Jesus initiating a whole new era of history, overthrowing the values of the present generation and establishing new values of healing and justice. His story doesn't emphasize the powerful and wealthy, but the poor and forgotten. So, we begin with an old couple who couldn't have children, a startling announcement to a poor young woman, a long journey to pay taxes, shepherds, animals and a miraculous birth.

December 21, Friends.
Watch for friends today, both in your own life and all around you. See how they behave together, act together. What makes someone a friend? How do you get to a place where you have someone you can talk about anything?

December 22, Closed Homes.
How is the world closed off to us? Where are there closed doors? Unfriendly

December 23, An Inventive Innkeeper.
The innkeeper in the story is usually given a bum rap, the bad guy, no room in the inn. Are there folks like that around, what are they like? But in the story, where there is no room in the city, this inventive person figures out something that will work. Do you see folks like this? Watch for them today, get to know them in yourself.

December 24, Shepherds.
Who are the shepherds in the world now? What would they do? Where do you see people who are tending the things that nourish us? Who are the ones on the fringes of society hard working, almost forgotten?

December 25, A Mother.
Look for mothers today. What are they doing? What do they look like, act like, seem like? Where is the mother in you?

Originally published in November 1998 issue of the Good News Letter, Morgan Hill United Methodist Church.

Last update: 1/16/03WG