Advent Day 2: December 3rd
Taking Nothing for Granted

I wonder if any of those who lived in and near Jerusalem and Bethlehem at the time of the birth -- ordinary persons like you and me -- had a sense of anticipation. Did they feel the earth was about to bear a great light? Did anyone dream, ahead of time, the revolutionary words he would speak: "Come to me... and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). If so, I doubt they were able to put their sense of anticipation into words. But what hope must have accompanied that inner knowledge!

And then how did they prepare? How do you open up your life for the divine? How do you increase the likelihood that you will recognize a power that's able to touch you -- and change you? Do you make great effort? Exactly how do you honor the inner longing to recognize a totally different presence than the world esteems -- and let your soul find rest there? How do you bridge the distance between longing for something and finding it? What takes us past our small successes and failures into a readiness to receive what's trying to be born?

Maybe the magic is in our own will. And perhaps preparing for this birth can be accelerated by a simple gesture. What if we vowed that, during these weeks of Advent, we will try to take nothing for granted? This, I think, would help us wait and live differently. From the time you awaken, look upon everything as a sheer gift.


by Paula D'Arcy, Redbird Foundation
from the book: Daybreaks