When I first read the word for day three of #adventword2017 -- #gather , I had the pictures below in mind: gathering up the autumn leaves.
I like gathering leaves except when the wind keeps blowing them away. Certainly that can be a good metaphor for gathering. However, as I was looking at the pictures, I realized the sameness of the leaves. Yes, they're a little different but mostly they're the same. When I think of an excellent image of "gather" for Advent, I think of beauty in the diversity: Individuals gathered in the community -- unity come together. Something more like the pictures below:
A few toes were stepped on the weekend this picture was taken but love was in the house.
While searching for the shoes and feet picture, I ran across this one. We had gathered in England to study the with God life together. The geographical , gender, and age diversity around this table is immense (even if the flesh tones are not -- we did have diversity there as well; it's just not showing in this picture). Still, the image below is the one I chose:
This is what I gathered for my fruit salad: each part unique, yet together scrumptious. Each element had its own set of flaws; nonetheless, each was delightful individually and gathered into one bowl. (I ate the finished product without taking a picture!) This image has its drawbacks as well. It's a still image. The other images with their sense of movement are more adequate in that respect to convey what it is like to gather. I'll close with a different gathering: a gathering in the future that can also be a gathering in the here and now. Advent can be the start of a gathering such as this.
"Imagine the day after your death...These people are breathtaking...you stop, startled, as you realize that there are others who look at you and see exactly the same: someone beautiful...someone magnificent in whom God dwells and delights...others are not simply wandering around...musicians in their orchestras...sculptors, painters, glassblowers, weavers, embroiderers, and photographers. Dancers leap around one another and you. Poets recite...writers...architects...constructions workers. Construction workers? Yes, there is artists of every kind going on here: creativity, endeavor, the shaping of the world in every way...As you watch all this activity, you gradually begin to realize that among all this runs a single golden thread: love...God in the midst of all this..." Now, to paraphrase the last page of this section of the book, God Soaked Life, imagine that we can start practicing to live this way now. Intrigued? Here are the four pages of the prologue of that book.
I like gathering leaves except when the wind keeps blowing them away. Certainly that can be a good metaphor for gathering. However, as I was looking at the pictures, I realized the sameness of the leaves. Yes, they're a little different but mostly they're the same. When I think of an excellent image of "gather" for Advent, I think of beauty in the diversity: Individuals gathered in the community -- unity come together. Something more like the pictures below:
A few toes were stepped on the weekend this picture was taken but love was in the house.
While searching for the shoes and feet picture, I ran across this one. We had gathered in England to study the with God life together. The geographical , gender, and age diversity around this table is immense (even if the flesh tones are not -- we did have diversity there as well; it's just not showing in this picture). Still, the image below is the one I chose:
This is what I gathered for my fruit salad: each part unique, yet together scrumptious. Each element had its own set of flaws; nonetheless, each was delightful individually and gathered into one bowl. (I ate the finished product without taking a picture!) This image has its drawbacks as well. It's a still image. The other images with their sense of movement are more adequate in that respect to convey what it is like to gather. I'll close with a different gathering: a gathering in the future that can also be a gathering in the here and now. Advent can be the start of a gathering such as this.
"Imagine the day after your death...These people are breathtaking...you stop, startled, as you realize that there are others who look at you and see exactly the same: someone beautiful...someone magnificent in whom God dwells and delights...others are not simply wandering around...musicians in their orchestras...sculptors, painters, glassblowers, weavers, embroiderers, and photographers. Dancers leap around one another and you. Poets recite...writers...architects...constructions workers. Construction workers? Yes, there is artists of every kind going on here: creativity, endeavor, the shaping of the world in every way...As you watch all this activity, you gradually begin to realize that among all this runs a single golden thread: love...God in the midst of all this..." Now, to paraphrase the last page of this section of the book, God Soaked Life, imagine that we can start practicing to live this way now. Intrigued? Here are the four pages of the prologue of that book.
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