First Sunday of Advent Scripture Readings Like it or not, we’ve entered into the season of new beginnings. Since most of our mythology arose among the peoples of the northern hemisphere, our mythemes—those fragments of common understanding that are woven together to form a kind of map key to life—are derived from the approaching winter. We think of the fading sunlight and the shortening of the days. We think of the harvest and the plant life that sustains us slipping into dormancy. We begin our annual longing for the return of warmth and new growth. In short, we step into the season of Advent—the season of anticipation. I find in today’s gospel a particularly fine example of Jesus’s message, and how it relates to the message of this season. I think it’s particularly relevant this year as we face what John Pavlovitz calls ”an incoming tide of unfathomable chaos”[1] that’s been unleashed in this country. Look at what Jesus is saying. He starts out speaking about the signs of the end of the world and our human reactions to those signs. Remember Chicken Little, the little fellow who ran around crying, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” It’s the end of the world? Stop, look, and listen. All over the world, people are gorging themselves on the news, and what’s the result? “People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world …” Well? What is “coming upon the world?” The story of the universe is being written one boson at a time from its birth through its expansion and growth across countless changes, as it hurtles toward an uncertain future. And every component of that universe gets to recapitulate that pattern: birth, growth and change, and dissolution into that uncertain future. Humanity is capable of comprehending its origins, mapping its growth, studying the forces of change, and standing awe-struck before the mysteries that await it. We recognize in the evolution of the universe, in the evolution of humanity, and in our own evolution from birth to the present, a great revelation of that Mystery. At every point, we shrink in terror of the possibility that all of it, the universe, life, ourselves, and even the great Mystery might ultimately prove meaningless. The important message in today’s gospel isn’t about “signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on earth, nations … in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.” Throughout history, there have been signs of global catastrophes about to overtake us: plagues, famines, earthquakes and tsunamis, shifting climate and crop failures, wars, slaughters, and genocides. Almost every generation has found itself saying, “Yup. This is it. This is the last straw. This is the thing that will send us all into the meaningless void.” The gospel message today says exactly the opposite. Jesus counsels us. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy …” What does he mean? Perhaps, he’s talking about becoming discouraged and depressed. Maybe he’s talking about the temptation to give up. Isn’t he talking about the attitude that says, “What’s the use? Why bother? Let’s just get drunk and party?” Isn’t he talking about allowing the “anxieties of life” to get the best of us? So, what’s Jesus’s message? What does he mean when he says, “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man”? Don’t think of the coming of the Son of Man in terms of the “second coming” of Christ as people try to picture it. Think of it, rather, as that great Mystery toward which everything is moving. All of creation, after all, is the work of the Word of God forming and driving all of reality and all of time so that, at just the right moment, the Mystery could break through into the human story with the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And at just the right moment you, too, could break through into the human story to add your own unique chapters. So, what it means to stand before the Son of Man is nothing less than to confront face-to-face that Mystery that created us, that accompanies us, and that awaits us as our destiny. What it means to stand before the Son of Man is to stare into the eyes of God. What will we see there, but a perfect reflection of who we are, freed from all pretense and excuses? It’s like standing before a full-length mirror stripped entirely spiritually naked. This isn’t to feel shame for who we are. To stand before the Son of Man means to see ourselves entirely as God sees us in truth, free of the trappings of falsehoods that we’ve so carefully weaved. The most deadly lies we tell are those we tell ourselves. Who would we be without them? Advent is all about the breaking through into our world of that great Mystery that awaits us and all that is. Advent is about preparing to encounter that Mystery. Advent is about searching for that Mystery in the stable at Bethlehem. Advent is about standing naked in front of that Mystery now, and at the hour of our death. Amen. [1] John Pavlovitz, 2024. Get articles from H. Les Brown delivered to your email inbox.
Let’s begin by taking a bird’s eye view of what we’re going to be considering for the next six weeks. The title of this series is “Twelve Steps to Spiritual Growth.” I could just as easily have called it “Twelve Steps to Spirituality.” The title presupposes three things: 1) that we know what spirituality is,… Read more: Series Overview
In this first segment, we’re going to be examining spirituality and giving a brief introduction to the steps. First, we’ll develop a definition of spirituality that consists of four elements: interrelationship, the Transcendent, universality, and purpose. Then, we’ll see how difficult it is to develop a mature spirituality and why a life without spirituality doesn’t… Read more: Introduction to Spirituality and the Steps
In this segment, we’ll be looking at some of the nagging problems that afflict us all, and show how the first step can initiate the process of spiritual recovery. Here’s a story. When we bought our house in Palm Springs, it hadn’t been updated in many years. On the west side, a previous owner had… Read more: Step 1: Powerlessness and Unmanageability
Let’s see where we are today. In our first session, we began by discussing spirituality in general. We said that spirituality is a universal sense of interconnection with the Transcendent—that is God and the Universe, humanity, and our own destiny. It’s an interconnection that provides meaning to life. We suffer and cause suffering when we… Read more: Session 2 Overview
In this session, we’ll start by looking for ways that we can find the Power that we need outside of ourselves, especially in the Transcendent. Then, we’ll examine the differences between belief in the Transcendent (faith) and trust in the Transcendent (hope). Here’s where Step 2 comes in. “Came to believe that a Power greater… Read more: Step 2: Finding Faith
In the second step, we’ve located the object of our faith: a personal Transcendent Power that is capable of restoring us to sanity. In this step, we’re going to find out how we can connect to that Power. At this point, our faith is merely theoretical. There’s something there that is capable of helping us.… Read more: Step 3: Creating Hope
Let’s see where we are today. In our first session, we began by discussing spirituality in general. We said that spirituality is a universal sense of interconnection with the Transcendent—that is God and the Universe—humanity, and our own destiny. In the second half of that session, at Step 1, we considered the signs of unmanageability… Read more: Session 3 Review & Overview
We’ll begin by looking at what Step 4 actually says, but, before we proceed to examine it, we’re going to need to get rid of some serious misunderstandings arising from poor explanations of what’s involved, and the cultural fallacies that those misunderstandings have created. Here’s the fourth step: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory… Read more: Step 4: Taking Inventory
Recall that, when we completed Step 3, “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God,” we saw that we were on the way to restoring our interconnection with God. We trusted God enough to turn our will and lives into God’s care. The purpose of Step 4… Read more: Step 5: Cleaning House
Let’s see where we are today. Once again, in our first session, we began by discussing spirituality in general. We said that spirituality is a universal sense of interconnection with the Transcendent—that is God and the Universe—humanity, and our own destiny. In the second half of that session, at Step 1, we considered the signs… Read more: Session 4 Review & Overview
In this session, we’ll be looking closely at the behaviors we uncovered in steps four and five to see the unhealthy patterns that consciously or unconsciously sabotaged our spiritual progress. Here is Step 6: “Were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.” In the same way a good doctor orders an extensive… Read more: Step 6: Diagnosis
At this point, we should be well on our way toward completing our reintegration with our better, higher selves. We’ve diagnosed the issues that are interfering with our spiritual growth, so now, we need to find and apply a treatment. It would be nice if there were only one way to cure the character flaws… Read more: Step 7: Treatment
As usual, let’s begin with a brief review of our sessions up until now. Once again, in our first session, we began by discussing spirituality in general. We said that spirituality is a universal sense of interconnection with the Transcendent—that is God and the Universe—humanity, and our own destiny. In the second half of that… Read more: Session 5 Review & Overview
In this session, we’ll be completing the re-establishment of our interconnections with our fellow women and men and any organizations or institutions we’ve harmed by our old attitudes and behaviors. We’ll begin this process by putting into practice Step 8: “Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends… Read more: Step 8: Preparing for Amends
Here we begin what may be the most challenging aspect of the Twelve Steps for Spiritual Growth. We’ve completed all the steps leading up to our final reconciliation with the people who share our world with us. All that’s left is the doing. Here is Step 9. “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,… Read more: Step 9: Reconciliation
Once more, we’re going to begin with a brief review of our sessions up until now. In our first session, we began by discussing spirituality in general. We said that spirituality is a universal sense of interconnection with the Transcendent—that is God and the Universe—humanity, and our own destiny. In the second half of that… Read more: Session 6 Review & Overview
Step 10 keeps our relationship with others in good order. Here is Step 10: “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.” The essence of this step is ongoing, continual self-awareness. The Buddhists would call this attitude, “mindfulness.” If we would grow spiritually, we can no longer be satisfied by… Read more: Step10: Keeping Your Side Clean
With Step 10, we put in place a number of strategies that—with the help of God—will allow us to maintain healthy and effective relationships with our fellow travelers on planet Earth. As the psalmist once wrote, “Our help is in the Name of the Lord.” In Step 11, we will suggest strategies that will allow… Read more: Step 11: Keeping Conscious Contact
In Step 10, we put in place strategies for maintaining our interconnections with others; in Step 11, we did the same for our interconnection with God. Now, we need to adopt a methodology to ensure that our interconnection with ourselves—past, present, and future—is given a chance to develop and grow. That’s where Step 12 comes… Read more: Step 12: Living a Spiritual Life in the World