Second Sunday of Advent
The Candle of Peace
Our Second Advent service opened with the acknowledgement of Nelson
Mandela's passing. He was a man of spiritual
strength and vision for what might be and he reshaped the face of South
Africa and the world.
Mandela was born into the Thembu royal family. He attended two Universities in South Africa receiving
his law degree. Mandela was a voice of
authority and leadership for Black South Africans. And he was imprisoned in 1962 and served 27
years in jail as a result of his leadership: Mandela was a man of peace and
reconciliation and a man who was silenced for 27 years.
Zachariah was a High Priest in the temple and having served
there many year would have become a voice of authority and power within the
temple. A leader in the Jewish community
of his time. When Zachariah failed to
believe the archangel Gabriel that his wife Elizabeth would conceive a son he
was struck mute for the duration of her pregnancy only regaining his voice to proclaim
that the child’s name was John.
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What do Zachariah and Mandela have in common they both were
vibrant men of authority and wisdom within their communities and for very
different reasons their voices were made silent.
Juanita asked us to consider what this period of enforced
solitude/silence meant to these men and the people around them.
She wondered if:
- silence created space for God to move within Mandela and Zachariah on a personal level if they became mindful of God in a different and more intimate way – did they come to lean less on their own understanding of God and more on God’s understanding of them and their purpose?
And
- On a public level did it create space for others to come to know themselves and others on a deeper level as leaders
This the Second Advent sermon resonated with
me. I am a person of words, and a
leader. Recently I have been lamenting
that I do not have enough time to be reflective on my spiritual journey. There does not seem to be enough time to
read, reflect and be silently present with my God.
Here was Juanita
speaking directly to me!
While Mandela’s imprisonment was unjust and I do not believe
that the hand of God was in this – I do believe that Mandela used this time to
be mindful of his role in South African politics, of his role and the cost of
his convictions on his family and his spirituality.
I can only imagine what it would be like to lose my voice
and have only limited ways to get my opinions and thoughts out into the
world. When I have a cold and cannot
sing I know that I hear music at a deeper level that at these times music
ministers to me at a deep spiritual level that singing my praise has yet to do.
The question is:
- Is there space in the cacophony of our words and thoughts for spiritual mysteries for the miraculous?
- Or does our knowledge, this same cacophony limit us to what we know rather than what in God is possible?
How does all this relation to peace?
Peace in 2013 can only be found in the
miraculous. When men and women begin to
become mindful of themselves, the roles that they play in the world and the miraculous will out-of-the-box
thinking begin to take hold.
Did God stop doing miracles or did we stop believing in miracles?
Grandma Snyder
Laverty, J. (2013, December 8). Surprising Gifts of Advent.
Hanover, Ontario: Hanover Mennonite Church.
©2013 Twosnydergirls
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