Bryan Sherwood

Lectio: Advent 1 - Tuesday

 
Today's readings are listed here.

2 Peter 1:13-14

I think it is right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.

I couldn't help but think about Peter's statement here. There seems to be two certainties that Peter talks about in this passage. Peter was quite aware of his own impending death. And we know that like Peter, there is the certainty of our own death when we too will put off this tent, our body. In the Rule of Saint Benedict, Benedict writes "Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die." This kind of remembering helps us to have a sense of urgency about our own salvation as well as the salvation of the world.

The other certainty that Peter writes about is the certainty of the Lord's Second Coming.

2 Peter 1:16

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

If we had to face death without the hope of Christ's Second Coming and our own resurrection, life would be full of darkness and despair. Yet, Advent reminds us that His return is certain as is our resurrection.

Lectio: Advent 1 - Monday

A few thoughts on today's appointed readings from our church's Advent blog.

Lectio: Advent 1 - Sunday

Happy Advent!  Feel free to check out a few of my reflections on today's office readings over at my parish's Advent blog.  I plan to try and write some kind of reflection each day in Advent.  (I said I would TRY).

Collect for the First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Archbishop Rowan Williams on Advent

I may have shared this once before but this is a nice reflection as we begin Advent.  Enjoy!

1 Peter - Prayer, Love, and Hospitality

I was reading 1 Peter 4 tonight.  Here are a few verses I found interesting.

⁷The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.⁸Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.⁹Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

These words are simple but are good reminders to what our lives as Christ followers should look like.  Prayer.  Love.  Hospitality.  Even as these Christians Peter wrote to were undergoing persecution for their faith, these were three things Peter found important to share with them.  Good words for us today.  I'm no expert but I have a feeling that prayer, love, and hospitality might just change the world.

Pax.

A Collect for Thanksgiving Day

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

I pray that on Thanksgiving Day we can all be mindful of those who lack the daily necessities of life (food, shelter, clean water, etc.).  How easy it is for us who have plenty to forget those who are in need.  This prayer sums it up well:  "Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need . . . "  Join me in praying that prayer this Thursday.

Pax.

Quiet Trails Nature Preserve

Hello all.  With grad school work piling up and the stress of life, Heather and I decided we had to get outdoors for a while yesterday.  So, we drove to Cynthiana and went hiking at a nice nature preserve there called Quiet Trails Nature Preserve.  It was a beautiful day and the woods in KY are hard to beat.  This preserve was no exception . . . full of ridges and ravines.  The trail eventually lead us down to the edge (and I mean edge) of the Licking River.  It was pretty easy to imagine men floating their logs down to Covington as they had done many years before.  If you haven't been to Quiet Trails, you should go.  It's off the beaten path and virtually unknown.  We were the only hikers there.

And yes, I took along my camera.  Check out the photos.

The Beauty of the Gospel

I've started reading Tim Keller's book The Reason for God.  I'm barely past chapter two but found it to be exceptionally well-written and beautiful.  Then again, the gospel is beautiful.  Resurrection is beautiful.  Let me try and share a few excerpts from Keller's chapter entitled How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?

From page 32 . . . 

The Biblical view of things is resurrection - not a future that is just a consolation for the life we never had but a restoration of the life you always wanted.  This means that every horrible thing that ever happened will not only be undone and repaired but will in some way make the eventual glory and joy even greater.

From page 33 . . . 

Just after the climax of the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, Sam Gamgee discovers that his friend Gandalf was not dead (as he thought) but alive.  He cries, "I thought you were dead!  But then I thought I was dead myself!  Is everything sad going to come untrue?"  The answer of Christianity to that question is--yes.  Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost.

And he closes with a quote from C.S. Lewis . . . 

They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it," not know that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory."

There's a lot of hope in those words.  It's as Matthew 19.28 says: Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."  Jesus will return and one day the world in all of its brokenness and decay will be renewed, revitalized and healed.  What a beautiful message!

I'm a Mac Guy

I've been a computer user of one kind or another for many years.  My first real computer was an "IBM compatible" 386sx running at 16 mhz.  I eventually upgraded it to a 486!  I owned that computer back in 1990 or 1991 (I forget).  I've owned many computers since then mostly made by Dell and Apple.  Heather and I purchased our first Apple computer three years ago, an iBook G4.  What a great computer.  Outside of baptizing it with a cup of coffee and having to replace the keyboard due to my own clumsiness, I've had no other problems with this machine.  It's simply just worked.  No viruses.  No spyware.  No blue screens.

Since starting grad school, I purchased a Dell Inspiron 1525.  I should have had my head examined.  It's been a terrible experience.  I'm not sure who to blame - Dell or Microsoft.  They tend to blame each other.  I call Dell complaining that I once again have programs/files that seem to be corrupted for no apparent reason.  Of course, they reassure me it's not their hardware.  Of course, I don't even bother trying to get support from Microsoft.  So far, I've formatted the hard disk at least four or five different times to "fix" the problems I have.  That's Dell's answer to everything - reformat the hard drive and reinstall everything AGAIN.  I've seriously thought about taking a hammer to this computer.

So, yes, I'm a Mac Guy.  I make no apologies.  

And if anyone out there would love to buy me something, I'd take one of these or one of these!

Pax.