Week 1
Advent
The Scripture ~
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
God our Savior. Psalm 65:4b ~ 5
The Spiritual Focus ~ Paying attention to what we feel grateful for puts us in a positive frame of mind. It connects us to the world around us and to ourselves. ~ Attributed to Elizabeth Gilbert
The Devotion
This past weekend there was a slow, intentional move from praise and thanksgiving, spoken words of grace around a table, to a quiet unspoken sense of gratitude. One Yogadevotion instructor acknowledged that this year she had no need to rush the Thanksgiving celebration, she rested in gratitude. She decided that rather than putting up her Christmas tree as she usually does, she was going to wait, sit in gratitude and enjoy this time, paying attention to what she is grateful for.
Sitting in gratitude is a great way to begin the season of Advent. Advent is a season that invites us to journey in the story of the people of Israel, as they waited for the promised Savior, something they had been waiting for, for a long time. The first candle of Advent is the candle of hope. Hope is a sense of longing …a desire that restores us to wholeness. We, as people who know the story of the Christ child, wait in gratitude each year for the story to be retold. The story of how God came to dwell among us fulfilling the hoped for promise of Presence. Because we know the story, we approach our practice in gratitude because our hope has been fulfilled.
Breath prayer
Inhale ~ I Am
Exhale ~ Grateful
