Advent begins today—a time of waiting with joyful anticipation. Which is not how we usually think of waiting. More often we regard waiting as tedious or annoying or an interruption to our carefully planned life. But it doesn’t work to hurry the growth of a plant or the birth of a child—some things only come when the time is right, and one might as well celebrate the time that leads to fulfillment.
What do you wait for with joy in your heart?
World AIDS Day is a day of awareness, a time to remember those who are living with HIV and to work toward continued progress in prevention, treatment and access to life-saving medical care. Perhaps it is also a day to be aware of the many things that make our bodies and psyches less able to resist the dangers that come at us from within and without.
What helps you resist assaults on your emotional, spiritual or physical well-being?
In the world of Harry Potter, there are Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans – jelly beans in every flavor, from buttered rum to vomit. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to risk eating jelly beans when you never know if you’re going to get mocha or mucus, but isn’t life pretty much like that? Any day might be the day you meet your one true love, or the day you get hit by a car, and there is no choice but to reach into the bag and see what you get.
How do you prepare yourself for reaching into the bag of a new day?
A snow-covered mountain is an image of pristine beauty, “white,” as they say, “as the driven snow.” But when you actually get up in that snow you will find the perfect cover is marred with the tracks of animals and people, with dust and twigs and droppings and all the imperfections that come with the presence of life. Other people’s lives often look smooth and glossy from a distance, but not one of us lives in a place of purity and perfection.
How do you embrace your imperfections?
“You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.”
― Kahlil Gibran
What kind of prayers do you offer in moments of joy or times of abundance?
