Mesmerizing…
Blog Post #19
Sometimes all you can do is close your door, turn off the lights, strike a match, and bask in the brilliance of candlelight. It’s mesmerizing, peaceful, prayerful.
Sadly, these words can seem far away a lot of the time. Life is busy. People are sick. Loved ones are dying. Bills need to be paid. Food needs to be made. Work needs to be done. Nothing seemingly mesmerizing, peaceful, or prayerful about that. But that is the beauty of Advent and our glorious Advent wreaths. This season and its luminaries are an invitation to find peace in our day...to remember to be in conversation with God...and to prepare our hearts to be mesmerized once again at the birth of our Savior.
I don’t know about you, but I get tired of hearing the same things over and over again. After a while, the stories and sayings fail to resonate. That’s when I know I have work to do. I challenge myself to find ways to make it meaningful. Sometimes that means finding a personal life story that makes it all come alive again. And sometimes it’s hearing the same truths spoken with different words.
Someone I would highly recommend reading if you are looking to hear the beauty of the faith spoken in different words is the Catholic, British Mystic, Caryll Houselander. She has a quote about Advent that I read just the other day and it really spoke to my soul.
She said, “By His own will Christ was dependent on Mary during Advent: He was absolutely helpless; He could go nowhere but where she chose to take Him; He could not speak; her breathing was His breath; His heart beat in the beating of her heart.... In the seasons of our Advent - waking, working, eating, sleeping, being - each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world."
Your waking, working, eating, sleeping, being - your very existence is breathing Christ into the world.
Those were the words that gave my heart hope and made me mesmerized yet again.
Maybe these words spoke to your soul too. If so, great! If not, maybe start with something simple. Shut the door, strike a match, light the first candle of your Advent wreath and let the warmth and the mesmerizing glow put your spirit at peace.
Until next time, Happy Advent-ing!