The church year begins with the First Sunday of Advent. However, you probably never noticed that we imitate the noise of New Year’s Eve when we blow those whistles, sound the horn, shout the countdown and wildly throw confetti. We symbolically explode the old, as it were, obligate the past, so we can make a new, fresh beginning.The church year is no different. It too always ends and begins in chaos. Recall those terrible apocalyptic images: the sun, moon and stars will implode. There will be roaring of seas and waves. Yes, the very powers of heaven, like a nuclear blast, will be shaken and people will die of fright. Quite a scenario. But the function of these dire images, like the ones of New Year’s is meant to obliterate our selfish past and prepare us to make a new spiritual beginning.
That’s what the gospel sound and fury are about. It’s about thrashing the old and preparing for the new. Only for us, it is not resolutions to lose weight or be nicer to our mother-in-law. It is the challenge to live the spiritual life better than we did last year.
I hesitate to use the term “spiritual life,” as accurate as it is. The reason is that the term “spiritual life” tends to conjure up floating in la la land, talking to animals, or pausing to have visions. Or, at least fleeing to the convent or monastery. But the spiritual life is quite realistic, robust and challenging, and while it is for everybody, it is not for sissies.
How do I know if I am a spiritual person or not? How can I tell? Well, it’s really not hard to figure out. In fact, there are five quite sensible and infallible signs that I will explore with you during this Advent Season.
On a Monday morning after turkey day, think for a moment that you are a spiritual person if you have the capacity for transcendence. Simply put, it means that you are aware that there’s something more than meets the eye. You are always “wonderfully suspicious” that something more is going on. This is a contradiction to the secularists whose opinions say quite loudly that there is no God, no afterlife, no meaning, no purpose to life. Life is fundamentally absurd, a cosmic joke. What you see is what you get.
But not so the spiritual person. He or she sniffs hidden presences. They sense something in ever try flower, in beauty, in art, in friendship, in kindness, something that hints at something more to life. In fact, such things hint of Some One more. This morning I was humbled by an "old, trusted friend" who reminded me how much inspiration he receives by the Sonshine notes. He felt something was missing if he did not find them in his email, it was the mystery and a Presence.
This morning's image did not win any national awards, but it inspires me to take a time out during my hectic day to imagine myself walking along a stream and suddenly feel a sensation of peace and calm. The spiritual person notices. The spiritual person has the capacity to perceive beyond and behind. It could be the moment while you were basking the turkey, or rolling out the cookie dough or witnessing your first grandchild being baptized. I believe there is Some One more.
God prays for us as we reflect: “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence…” (Psalm 16:11).
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they discover the spiritual life that leads to the Presence in Bethlehem.
