a monk living in the world

I get all kinds of emails these days, forwarded to me, telling me to smile or to say a prayer and then forward on the email. Some emails ask me to wear a certain color on a certain day to show I care for this or that group of people. Back in Advent I decided to try and start one of these emails myself. The email consisted mostly of the text in this post.

It’s Advent, the time where we in the church prepare to celebrate the presence of God in our midst, and I am wondering…do we in the church really get the message and meaning of the Good News?

I often feel we don’t, or at least we don’t demonstrate it by our behavior. Most of us come to our weekly worship services, sitting with people we know, people mostly like us, people who make us feel safe and comfortable. I often wonder, when I read the Gospels, would Jesus even be in our churches today. Yes, he went to the temple but most of the Gospels show that he spent most of his time with the hurt and the broken, going where they were and being with them.

I don’t want to point fingers at any one church, or any certain people…when I look in the mirror, I see a person with the same issues looking back at me. I am just wondering (and praying) if maybe during this Advent season we could stop and really think about how the message of Jesus should be playing out in our lives, where should it be taking us, how should it be changing us.

Please take a couple of minutes to watch a very short video by Chris Seay, a pastor who wants to share a similar message. Then maybe you will share this message with a friend or two.




May God bless you and keep you.

Posted by zenpilgrim at 10:40 AM |