Susan goes to church on the second Sunday of Advent. Predictably she hears a sermon from Pastor Pete about the need to slow down during Advent in preparation for the coming of Christ. We need to wait, be still, and wring all the hurry out of our lives. Susan takes every point to heart. Yes, she agrees, she is too busy. Yes, she is moving too fast. When Pastor Pete drives home the point that the world has taken hold of Christmas and taken Christ out of it, she nods in agreement. “Will I ever learn?” she wonders . Yes, it is going to be another Guiltmas.
Then come the announcements. An extra service on Wednesday evenings. Cookies needed for the Christmas bazaar, three dozen per family. Don’t forget to make your Chrismon for the church Christmas tree. Christmas caroling at the nursing home on Saturday. And is your pledge card in?
What’s wrong with this picture? What is wrong with this picture is that we do not have a spiritually of motion. A spirituality of motion suggests that God can be discovered in different ways at all speeds. In contrast to a spirituality of idle which implies that God can only be found by stopping, a spirituality of motion presents the possibility of experiencing different aspects of God at the various paces of life. The key is having a spiritual life that can move at all speeds.
Think of a car. A car with a stuck accelerator that can only run 70 miles an hour is dangerous. Think of trying to drive a car at 70 miles per hour on a busy city street! On the other hand, a car that can only idle is useless. There are times when God needs us to get somewhere fast. The shepherds knew this. After the angels spoke to them, they “hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”
Rather than accepting the contradictory messages you may be hearing this season that turn Christmas into Guiltmas, try thinking with me about a spirituality of motion, God with us at all speeds. I will be writing more about this over the next several days of Advent. Let me know how you have experienced God at different speeds in your life.
Then come the announcements. An extra service on Wednesday evenings. Cookies needed for the Christmas bazaar, three dozen per family. Don’t forget to make your Chrismon for the church Christmas tree. Christmas caroling at the nursing home on Saturday. And is your pledge card in?
What’s wrong with this picture? What is wrong with this picture is that we do not have a spiritually of motion. A spirituality of motion suggests that God can be discovered in different ways at all speeds. In contrast to a spirituality of idle which implies that God can only be found by stopping, a spirituality of motion presents the possibility of experiencing different aspects of God at the various paces of life. The key is having a spiritual life that can move at all speeds.
Think of a car. A car with a stuck accelerator that can only run 70 miles an hour is dangerous. Think of trying to drive a car at 70 miles per hour on a busy city street! On the other hand, a car that can only idle is useless. There are times when God needs us to get somewhere fast. The shepherds knew this. After the angels spoke to them, they “hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”
Rather than accepting the contradictory messages you may be hearing this season that turn Christmas into Guiltmas, try thinking with me about a spirituality of motion, God with us at all speeds. I will be writing more about this over the next several days of Advent. Let me know how you have experienced God at different speeds in your life.
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