12. AN ADVENT AMONG OTHER THINGS: JOY FROM MARVELING

Friday, December 20th

The more I learn to see that God’s presence is with us in everything, I increasingly find all of creation as sacred and divine. God’s presence is revealed in Jesus, in Spirit/Christ, and in one another. God’s presence is also revealed in the intricate miracle of new life, the beauty and wisdom of nature, the abundant and precious earth, and the mysterious majesty of the infinite universe. When I take the time to notice and marvel at God’s generous, creative goodness, I feel an inner joy rising within.

The author Sue Monk Kidd shares this awareness of earthly spirituality: “We come to recognize the innate holiness of the earth, the sacred dwelling in nature, matter, and body. We understand these things are not only creations of the Divine, but manifestations of the Divine.”

When we pause to marvel at God’s goodness, God’s creation, and God’s infinite love, we can regard our world and live our days with grateful joy.

Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty. ~ John Ruskin

This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
~ Psalm 118:24

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. ~ Aristotle

For you shall go out in joy
    and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
    shall burst into song,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
~ Isaiah 55:12

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous. ~ Bill Moyers

For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face.
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 
~ 1 Corinthians 13:12

I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief.
~ Gerry Spence

The flowers appear on the earth;
    the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
    is heard in our land.
~ Song of Solomon 2:12

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ~ John 8:36

Too often we argue about Christianity instead of marveling at Jesus.
~ John Ortberg

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are humans that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?
~ Psalm 8:3-4

Today, may we find many reasons to marvel, and to find our joy as we thank God for them all.



Photos by Karen