Witnesses to the Joy and Wonder of God - December 16
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 50; PM Psalm [59, 60] or 33; Zech. 4:1-14; Rev. 4:9-5:5; Matt. 25:1-13
During the first several months of the pandemic, most of my work and my spouses took place in our home. We would find corners of the house or perch up at the dining room table on a laptop. If calls or zoom meetings were taking place someone would be on the porch and another in the living room. One of the side effects of this practice was that our pets always had one of us around. Sugar Magnolia Blossoms Blooming Burruss, aka ‘Shuugs’ the wonder lab would have at least a few sessions of extreme tennis ball retrieval during the day, never bored and always satisfied with her human companions. Meri, short for Meriwether, which is a pretty formal name for the most mature member of our family (Meri is 15 in human years or 105 in cat years) enjoyed the company too.
This has since changed over the last several months, and the animals have found themselves often cooped up alone until after dark. This means when I return home, and as soon as the car hits the driveway, Sugar is bounding up and down at the door, her head moving from glass pane to pane in anticipatory joy for the soon to be of a tennis ball game that she desires more than anything else. And the cat is right behind her making sure she is returned the love she has missed for the day.
All these animals want to do is proclaim love and receive love and the greeting each day is a reminder of how simple life can really be. It is actually a rather extraordinary outlook to want nothing more than love and be loved and I think there are few things I can learn from the furrier part of the Burruss clan.\
The readings this season continue to be difficult and bizarre, but there is something interesting about John’s vision this morning in Revelation. He names living creatures “giving glory and honor to the one seated on the throne” as a witness to the revelation of God. It’s a small passage that would be easy to gloss over, probably as easy as it is sometimes to miss the joy and wonder that is taking place all over the world, bounding in our kitchen or living room or chasing a tennis ball or laser pointer, seeking to share and receive love.
Part of waiting in anticipation, a posture of Advent, should also be to look or watch or be alert. As we often start Morning Prayer in Advent “Watch, for you know not when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning; lest he come suddenly and find you asleep” (Mark 13:35, 36). It’s not just about watching for the master, but seeing the others around us who are waiting for the master to return to, point us in the way too.
All around us are witnesses to the joy and wonder of God. Being alert is letting those witnesses shape our waiting. And in that maybe we will see or learn something we didn’t expect to see. God’s return is on the horizon. Who and what of creation is calling us to pay attention to see what we might not have seen before?
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: How do pets shape your life? What do they teach you and how do they change your perspective? If you don’t have pets, are there other parts of creation that you notice that are calling out to give glory to God?
Daily Challenge: If you have a dog, take him or her on an extra-long walk today. If you don’t, take a walk anyway!