Isaiah 26:1-6
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Isaiah 26

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

 1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
   “We have a strong city;
He sets up walls and ramparts for security.
2 “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that remains faithful.
3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.
4 “Trust in the LORD forever,
For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.
5 “For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
6 “The foot will trample it,
The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the helpless.”


Tonight, the Advent retreat calls for prayerful reflection on Scripture as opposed to Ignatian contemplation. I am supposed to think about what the text is saying, what it is saying to me, and what does the text make me want to say to God.

Oh, Old Testament, you are a formidable foe. The NT is so accessible to me, and then I try to deconstruct this...I like what it says about trust, though. That trust in God brings peace, which is ultimately a gift of God, and that trust brings us closer to God, and God closer to us.

Verses 5 and 6 brought Occupy Wall Street to mind. While the verses seem to be alluding to destruction or active ruin, I actually like seeing it through a lens where the afflicted and the helpless are SEEN and HEARD. They demand to be seen and heard, it is God's will for their experience to be validated and made real. Their experience is not to be ignored or swept under the rug...it is to be faced and acknowledged by those with power and privilege.
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Examen (incomplete, but with good intentions)

I continue to be grateful for friends. I am also grateful for my parents and the coaches I had over the years. They made a difficult job look easy, and always handled the chaos with grace...I am thankful for their example as I coach.

I ask for your help and guidance as I try to be a good friend. I really try to listen well, to be attentive, to be like Kim, but I think I fail more than I succeed.

Allow me to use my free time wisely this weekend instead of letting it disappear.

Advent Retreat -- Day 3

Matthew 4:18-22
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The First Disciples

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “[a]Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, [b]James the son of Zebedee, and [c]John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

I am going to try something this Advent. I need structure in my blogging, and I may have found it. Thanks to my Jesuits, of course:
http://ignatianspirituality.com/wp-content/uploads/Seasonal/Advent-Retreat-2011.pdf

So, each day, I am to spend some time praying with scripture...not an easy task for me. I picked the right day though...this is a story I can get behind. Today's assignment is to pray with this passage using Ignatian Contemplation, which asks that we enter into the story and see it as an eyewitness, hear it right from Jesus' mouth, and try to imagine what it would feel like if He was talking to us.

I've always loved the line about "fishers of men," sexism be damned. Even before I really understood it, I liked the turn of phrase (this was before I knew what a turn of phrase was of course). This scene is a good place to start my Advent journey because I enter into this scene easily. I am standing behind Jesus, watching him walk up to the shore, hearing His call to these disciples. They recognize something in him, clearly. They drop what they are doing...they drop their lives, to follow this man.

Two thoughts came to me as I read, reread and reflected a bit on this passage. First, I started singing "You Are Mine" to myself.
"come and follow me, I will bring you home...I love you and you are mine"

This is their call. Jesus is offering them a life with him...and from the looks of things here, they know very little--if anything--about him. And yet they are willing to leave everything--homes, families, their own identities--to follow this person. "Fishers of men"?! What does that even mean? They must have been confused...but something inside must have told them that there were bigger things ahead.

I think about the people in my own life who draw others to them...whose light is so strong, so enchanting, so beautiful, so powerful that others are willing to follow them. Not blindly, but with an unspoken understanding that they will be safe and treasured and valued. It is that light that Peter, Andrew, James, and John saw and trusted when they dropped their nets. And that is why I know them, why they are familiar to me and why I see myself in that scene. When someone has the light of the Creator, of God, shining so brightly from their core, you are willing to follow, to listen, to go with them on a journey. It wasn't grand promises of fame and fortune that had these disciples leaving all that they knew; it was the promise of community, of connection, of relationship. Who doesn't want that?

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The Advent Retreat asks that we also pray in the tradition of Ignatius Loyola at the end of our reflection by praying the Examen.
Loving God, today I am ever so grateful for my friends...for the community that I have created for myself, for the time and space to be with these friends, even in the difficult moments.

I am grateful for a teacher who did not meet my student's disrespectful and threatening "test" with anger or malice, but instead with patience and grace. Even though he didn't understand what was happening, he was able to handle the situation without escalating it and in a way that may allow him to build a relationship with this student in the future.

Please help me to better manage the time with which you have blessed me. Help me with focus and attention.

I hope I was able to show my friend some of your love, compassion, understanding and empathy today. She needed it, and I tried to give it without reservation or second-guessing my own reactions.

Forgive me for the times I fall short with my patience, or spend my time, energy and focus on things that don't deserve it as much as my work and my students do. Give me the strength and the patience for SM, TH, MM and more.
I look forward to tomorrow...to being a better reflection of you to all I see.