As December pushes on with all its unrelenting preparations and pressures, our Sunday Gospels in Advent are much the same: unrelenting in their insistence that we stop and pay attention and prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord. Today's Gospel, Luke 3.7-18, once again features John the Baptist, unrelentingly and unrepentantly preparing the way … Continue reading Baptism with Fire: A Reflection on Luke 3.7-18
One practice I'm always trying (and failing) to cultivate is meditation. I love the idea of stopping everything and simply being for a few minutes each day, in a way that is completely devoid of goal or expectation. And yet, it's a struggle. That simple act of putting down the book, turning off whatever screen … Continue reading Signs of the Times: STOP
Advent is a great season of the Church year, but, with all the distractions of the holiday season and planning for the new year, it's a hard season to keep well. But in those years when I do manage to 'keep it well', I find that it operates as a kind of month-long examination of … Continue reading A Glimpse of Kingdom Life: An Advent Reflection on Philippians 1.3-11
As I was brainstorming ideas for how I wanted to approach Advent this year, I stumbled across a question that stopped me in my tracks, on the late (and sorely missed) Christian writer Rachel Held-Evans' blog: When I wake up on Christmas morning, how will I be different? As Christians we believe that what we … Continue reading Signs of the Times: The Christmas Difference
There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will … Continue reading Signs of the Times: An Advent Reflection on Luke 21.25-36
Matthew Root 