The author's cat enjoys an ordinary moment sipping water by the windowsill. (Brenna Davis)
by Brenna Davis
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Editor's Note: Welcome to Simple Advent, Abundant Life. These daily Advent reflections will explore connections between simple living and abundant life on the earth. They are inspired by the Advent Simplicity Challenge at the Ignatian Solidarity Network. Sign up here to receive the reflections each day in your inbox.
First week of Advent theme—Time
Day 7: Saturday, Dec. 5
REFLECT
Or maybe nothing extraordinary happens at all — just one day following another, helter-skelter, in the manner of days. We sleep and dream. We wake. We work. We remember and forget. We have fun and are depressed. And into the thick of it, or out of the thick of it, at moments of even the most humdrum of our days, God speaks. ...
On the wall behind me, an old banjo clock was tick-tocking the time away. Outside I could hear the twitter of swallows as they swooped in and out of the eaves of the barn. Every once in a while, in the distance, a rooster crowed ... Several rooms away, in another part of the house, two men were doing some carpentry. ... From time to time my stomach growled ... They were all random sounds without any apparent purpose or meaning, and yet as I paused to listen to them, I found myself hearing them with something more than just my ears to the point where they became in some way enormously meaningful. The swallows, the rooster, the workmen, my stomach, all with their elusive rhythms, their harmonies and disharmonises, and counterpoint, became as I listened, the sound of my own life speaking to me.
- Frederick Buechner, The Sacred Journey
God speaks to us through the ordinary sounds and events of our lives. Many (but definitely not all) people have experienced a repetitive quality to the days since March, working or studying from home. However, each moment of your life is a unique part of your sacred journey and can help to unite you to the web of creation.
How often do you make time to simply sit and observe? Sit for two minutes and listen attentively to the sounds that are normally the background to your life. What do you notice?
ACT
View the Advent Simplicity Calendar for a simple gift suggestion that you can send through the mail.
Simple Advent, Abundant Life
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