<html><body><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Now<b><u> THAT</u></b> I find scary
– and wrong! But we’re still left with the question about what’s called the
apocalyptic portions of the Gospels. The word apocalypse suggests that things
are “hidden”. They happen, or are about to happen, but we don’t know the cause
or the purpose. So, this morning, in addition to silence, we’re asked to
struggle with what we see and hear all around us – noise, disagreement, power
struggles, destruction, all of which make the most impact, especially on the
broadcast of news. For some reason, we don’t hear about the quiet, patient,
compassionate, trusting actions of people and nations. Is that because, dare I
say it? these things are more unsettling that the first set? When we see things
go wrong we can turn to blame others. We can allow suspicions to run rampant.
We can accentuate all the differences between one culture and another, one
religious group and another, one – well, for instance, between Oregon and
Oregon State. Maybe that’s a good comparison, because we can get so wrapped up
in following one team or school that we don’t admit to the value of the other.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> So
on this first Sunday of the new year, with one foot inside the door, we’re
asked to face up to whatever it is that troubles us, keeping a firm hold on to
the prophet’s encouraging word that God said, “I <b><u>WILL</u></b> fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and
the house of Judah.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> There’s
absolutely no doubt whatsoever that God’s will <b><u>WILL</u></b> be done; that God’s Love <b><u>WILL</u></b> triumph. <b><u>THIS</u></b>
is why we can put our trust in God, no matter what happens around us, whether
it’s uncomfortably quiet and there seems sometimes to be a dearth of pointers
to God being in control.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Being
uncomfortable is, I think, part and parcel of being an Advent people. There should
be a bit of an air of lack of satisfaction to us. When we think we know what’s
going on; </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">when, for
instance, the menus of last Thursday and Friday’s dinners ere published ahead
of time, with nothing left for surprise; when we believe that we know how
everyone is going to act and to react, then we run the risk of being brought
face to face with the unusual, the unexpected, perhaps what we may think of as
unwelcome, and be so unprepared that we’re bowled over.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> <b><u>THIS</u></b> is the gift of
Advent. It’s an invitation from God and from our sisters and brothers to
discover that change is what we need, <b><u>AND</u></b> that change is
inevitable.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> This isn’t the easiest thing in the
world to hear, or to be. The known,
however disturbing, sometimes, seems so much more comfortable than the unknown.
How do you prepare when you don’t know what’s coming? How do you and I brace
ourselves against further wounds being inflicted on ourselves and the world,
whether on our doorstep or anywhere else in the world?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The prophets seem to suggest that
listening, being silent, <b><u>REALLY</u></b> listening to one another, as reports
and cries come in from all over, the prophets seem to suggest that listening without
feeling the need to give an immediate answer; listening with patience,
compassion and trust may be exactly what is needed now. This way, the
temptation to finish God’s sentence, when we may not actually know what God is
going to say; the temptation to put words in God’s mouth, may prove to be less
of a problem – <b><u>IF</u></b> we’re willing to listen, even as chaos seems to
reign. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The anthropologist, archeologist and
Jesuit priest, Pierre Tielhard de Chardin, wrote near the beginning of the last
century about the difficulties of facing this time of waiting and being uncertain,
and whether or not we’re being completely honest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> “We persist in saying
that we keep vigil in expectation of the Master. But in reality we
should have to admit, if we were sincere, that we no longer expect
anything. The flame must be revived at all costs. At all
costs we must renew in ourselves the desire and the hope for the great
coming. But where are we to look for the source of this
rejuvenation?” <sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Where do we look? Now <b><u>THAT’S</u></b>
an Advent question, if ever there was one. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> de Cardin suggests that when
we find our faith challenged by the activities of the world, when we may wonder
about our faith, we can hold on to those glimmers of light that we encounter. We
can use them as we continue on our journeys through life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> As encouragement, we can
face the challenges by thinking about what the Talmud says: “Do not be daunted
by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now. Love mercy now. Walk
humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free
to abandon it.” <sup>4</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> de Chardin partially answered
his own question about where we should look for the source of our rejuvenation.
He suggested that, no matter how noisy, how difficult things may appear in our
world, we need to continue to look for our renewal in the small signs of Jesus’
coming, and, as often as not, this may well come most clearly in silence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> So, in case any may
think I do not want to be asked about any silences I may make, the answer is “No.
I do want your questions, your concerns. Maybe the silence is me trying to
listen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Earlier
in the week, I’d wondered about whether an ending, mid-sentence break might be
the best way to give another sense of waiting, of listening, of being uncertain
……<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NOTES:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> <i>“<span style="color:#33333C"><a href="http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-11-16/minute-silence-france-stretched-many-emotional-minutes"><span style="color:#D3401E">The minute of silence in France stretched to many
emotional minutes</span></a></span>” </i><a href="http://www.pri.org/programs/the-world"><span style="color:windowtext">PRI's
The World</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="date-display-single"><i>November 16, 2015 “</i></span><span style="color:#33333C">In the neighborhood where the attacks took place, one
minute stretched into two, four, six. It was as if no one wanted this moment to
end.</span> <a href="http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-11-16/minute-silence-france-stretched-many-emotional-minutes">http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-11-16/minute-silence-france-stretched-many-emotional-minutes</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">2</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> “</span><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#000033;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">At the Edge of the
Enclosure: Soulwork Toward Sunday: Self-Guided Retreat - Advent 1 (Year C)
‘The Portal’” </span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#000033;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Suzanne Guthrie 23<sup>rd</sup> November, 2015 </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><a href="http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/advent1c.html">http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/advent1c.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 1881-</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">1955 quoted by Suzanne Guthrie in “<i><span style="color:#000033;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">At the Edge of the Enclosure:
Soulwork Toward Sunday: Self-Guided Retreat - Advent 1 (Year C) ‘The
Portal’”, </span></i><span style="color:#000033;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;
mso-bidi-font-style:italic">23<sup>rd</sup> November, 2015 </span><a href="http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/advent1c.html">http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/advent1c.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Rabbi Rami Shapiro’s interpretive translation of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the Talmud in Wisdom of the Jewish
sages, v</span>ia “Unfundamentalist Christians” on Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UnfundamentalistChristians/">https://www.facebook.com/UnfundamentalistChristians/</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p></body></html>