Hey Hearkeners,
Welcome to this fourth and final week of Advent,
The week of love.
As we begin,
I invite you to close your eyes.
Notice with that simplest of acts,
Your mind naturally becomes quieter.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in and let it release gently.
Love is spacious.
Love is patient.
Love meets us exactly where we are.
Let's begin once more with the words and posture,
Be Still.
Feel your body soften.
Feel the support beneath you.
Allow yourself to be held,
Just as you are,
Without effort or striving.
Stillness makes room for love to rise from within.
Next,
Let us adopt an attitude of gratitude and non-judgment.
Gratitude widens the heart,
And non-judgment removes the walls we build around ourselves.
Let go of expectations.
Let go of harshness toward yourself.
Let this be a moment where you are safe to simply be.
Finally,
As we enter this space of meditation,
Embrace a spirit of peace and loving-kindness.
Let kindness flow toward your own heart,
Toward the people you love,
And toward those you struggle with.
Let kindness expand outward toward all creation,
Toward all nations,
Toward a world longing to be made whole.
Now,
Take one more gentle breath as we prepare to listen to the story of love drawn near.
The wisdom of Creator became flesh and pitched a teepee among us.
We saw His beauty and His honor,
The kind only a father of many nations could give to a beloved son.
From His full and generous heart,
We have all received one blessing after another.
John Chapter 1,
Verses 14 and 16 Let the words pitched a teepee among us rest in your imagination.
Love is not distant.
Love does not watch from far away.
Love comes close,
Close enough to breathe our air,
Close enough to share our joys and our wounds,
Close enough to sit at our fires and call us family.
In the first coming of Christ,
Love enters the world in humility,
Not in a palace but in a stable,
Not wrapped in royal garments but in the simple cloth of a newborn.
Love learns to walk our earth.
Love takes on our humanity.
Love dwells with us as neighbor,
Healer,
Teacher,
Friend.
And in the second coming,
The coming again of Yeshua to make all things new,
Love arrives as reconciliation.
Love heals what has been fractured.
Love mends what has been torn.
Love restores creation to harmony.
Love gathers all peoples into a great circle of belonging,
Where no one is forgotten and no one is left out.
The future of the world is not ruled by fear or punishment,
But by love's restoring power.
This is the heartbeat of Advent.
Love has come and love is coming again to set everything right.
Take a breath and imagine this love as a gentle radiance warming your chest.
Feel it expanding within you,
Soft yet strong,
Tender yet powerful,
Steady and unending.
Let this love move through you like a blessing,
Into your memories,
Into your relationships,
Into the places where you long for healing.
You are cherished.
You are part of a story,
Where nothing lost goes unrecovered,
Where nothing broken is beyond repair,
Where nothing wounded is beyond healing.
Rest here for a few short breaths,
Held in love.
Thank you dear hearkeners for journeying through this Advent season with stillness,
Openness and a heart ready to receive.
As you go from this meditation,
May love surround you like warmth in winter.
May it soften your steps,
Steady your voice and brighten your path.
May you feel deeply the love that came in Yeshua and the love that is coming again to renew,
Reconcile and restore all things.
Merry Christmas my dear hearkeners and may grace and peace,
Light and love be with you all.
