Skip to main content

Week 1 of Advent

What do you want?

John’s gospel records this question as Christ’s first words to those who would soon become his disciples (1:38).  It was an invitation--not just to pause and reflect on what they longed for, not just to see those longings, but to say them out loud.  With this question, Jesus invited these men to name the desires of their soul—and not just to anyone, but to someone they understood to be the very Lamb of God.    

Some interpret Christ’s question as “’What do you seek?’”  To seek something means it has value.  If we seek something, it is important enough for us to put our desire into action, to pursue it.  To seek something often means working.  But seeking can also involve waiting.  


In all of our seeking and wanting, working and waiting, we are hoping.  Sometimes our hope is like a light that shines, bright and strong.  But there may also be moments—or seasons--when shadows of disappointment or doubt threaten to eclipse our hope, or cause it to waver.   Always, though, we are invited to give voice our hopes, to bring them--sometimes flickering, other times blazing--to the one who is himself the light of the world.


“What do you want?” 


Today, if Jesus asked you the same question, how might you respond?  


If there is a word, phrase, or prayer that captures the longing of your heart, you are welcome to post them here.


You are also invited to listen to the teaching from the first Sunday of Advent at All Souls--A Holy Longing:  Longing for Hope. 


Here is the devotional for week 2 of Advent.

--"What Do You Want?" devotional by Anne Lowry Pharr

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 2 of Advent

A Different Way to Pray Many years ago at a retreat, I was introduced to a new way of praying.  Rather than using words, we were led in a series of physical postures:        Standing, we placed the palms of our hands over our hearts.         We then lifted our arms overhead, open-palmed.         Arms still lifted and palms open, we paused.         Next, we brought our cupped hands back to our hearts.         Then, we extended our open palms in front of our bodies.           We closed by again lifting our hands, palms towards the sky. After familiarizing ourselves with the different postures, we learned the words our movements were meant to communicate:        Lord, here I am.   palms over hearts        Today, I offer all that I am to you.   arms lifted, palms open        I also co...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 4 of Advent

  Longing for Justice "That's not fair!"  The desire expressed by this statement  seems hard-wired into every person.  We long for our circumstances to be just, for people to conduct themselves in a manner that we experience as right, for things to turn out in a way that we can call "good." And we have a picture of what life will look like when that happens.  We may not even be aware of this vision, but when we find ourselves inclined to say, "that's not fair," it signals that what's in front of us and what we envision are not lining up. Our longing for things to be fair, right, and good is sometimes viewed as evidence of immaturity or selfishness.  And this can certainly be the case.  As believers, we are called to align our vision of what is right with God's vision. The prophet Isaiah provides a vision of the justice God wants for the world.  He names Jesus as the one through whom these visions will become reality (chapters 9, 42, 58, 61)...
Post a Comment
Read more