Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood Munkindox.
And this is Towards the Light,
An Advent journey.
And as we enter into day 14,
I want to invite you to see the world with God's eyes.
Now I honestly believe that at the heart of Advent lies empathy.
As we wait for the coming of Christ,
The light of the world,
I believe that one of the things that happens is that we are invited to and go through the process of learning to see the world through God's eyes.
This means looking at others,
Not just with a human understanding and compassion,
But with a deeper compassion and empathy that sees their worth,
Their struggles,
And their beauty as being made in the image of God.
In Matthew chapter 9,
We read about Jesus who looked at the crowds,
And Matthew writes that in that moment Jesus felt compassion because,
Quote,
They were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd,
End quote.
Now interestingly,
That word compassion in English comes from the Greek word splachna.
And splachna is a really interesting word because it literally means from the guts.
The sort of compassion that splachna talks about is those emotions that come up from deep down from our insides and well out of us because what we're seeing or what we're experiencing or what we're hearing about in that moment stirs us up so much that we can't help but allow that deep felt compassion to come literally deep from within and out of us.
And so in Matthew 9,
Jesus just didn't see the need of this people.
He literally felt it.
And his compassion moved him to act.
And Advent invites us to do exactly the same,
To see others with a love that stirs us to kindness and care.
Rabindranath Tagore wrote and I quote,
Let your life lightly dance on the edge of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
Let me read that to you again.
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
What would it look like for us to notice the delicate balance of life that's directly around us to see not just the burdens other carry,
But also the beauty of their resilience and the hope that they hold and the deeper inner beauty that often is unseen,
But we know is there because each one has been made in the image of God.
Empathy begins with paying attention.
It's in the moments when we pause long enough to notice someone's tired smile or to hear the story behind their words or to recognize their silent longing.
In John's first letter,
The fourth chapter,
John reminds us that we love because God first loved us.
And that love poured out into our hearts isn't meant to stay there like a stagnant pool.
No,
It's meant to flow outward like a living stream of water outward,
Transforming the way we see and engage with the world.
I wonder who in your life needs to be seen with God's eyes today.
Is it someone in your family,
A colleague,
Maybe a stranger that you're yet to encounter?
How might seeing them differently change how you respond to them?
So as you move through the day today,
May you see others with the tenderness and compassion of Christ,
That splatner that wells up from deep within and moves you to action.
And may because of that,
Your heart be stirred to acts of kindness,
Both great and small.
May your eyes notice the beauty and dignity in every life you encounter,
Because you see beyond the surface and into the image of God with which every being has been made.
And may you bring the light of Christ into the lives of others through your empathy and care.
Today,
My prayer is this reflection will lead you into action as we move into week three of Advent.
Choose one simple act of compassion,
A kind word,
A listening ear,
A thoughtful gesture,
And let that action be your prayer.
In doing so,
You'll prepare not only your heart,
But also the world around you to receive the light of Christ this Advent season.
And may the grace,
Hope and love of God go with you and flow through you every step of your day today.
Amen.
Peace be with you,
My friends.
We'll see you tomorrow as we start our third week of Advent.
Peace be with you.
