TODAY’S Advent Calendar reflection invites us to consider the connection between prayer and anticipating the reign of God — that time when we will know God intimately and fully, “face to face.”
This post is excerpted from Christianity After Religion.
Window 11
God’s people anticipate and participate in the Kingdom through spiritual practices.
Prayer, for example. Although a deeply personal practice, and in many ways the ultimate in “navel-gazing” spirituality, prayer connects an individual to God. Through it, we enter a conversation with God. But it also functions in a more universal and even eschatological way. To pray to God anticipates some future time when the supplicant will speak with God face-to-face. In God’s kingdom, there will be no barrier of space or time to be in God’s presence. Intimacy with God, as in the intimacy of prayer, will be the very nature of God’s kingdom. In the here and now, prayer creates connection and relationship with God, even as it embodies the sure hope that God is our eternal friend.
All Christian practices work in this way. The practice of hospitality opens our hearts to those who are strangers; it anticipates that, in God’s Kingdom, there will one day be no strangers. The practice of forgiveness cleanses our souls from guilt and shame; it anticipates that, in God’s Kingdom, all will be forgiven. The practice of charity shares what we have with those who suffer want; it anticipates that, in God’s Kingdom, there will be no more hunger or pain or sorrow or fear. The practice of stewardship creates a generous spirit; it anticipates that, in God’s Kingdom, money and possessions will cease to exist and that all is God’s.
Practices shape us to be better, wiser, more gracious people now even as these very practices anticipate in our lives and communities the reality of God’s kingdom that has entered into the world and will one day be experienced in its fullness.
Anticipating the Kingdom is not passive. To anticipate is not to simply endure the present in hope of the future or to wait for the future to unfold. Rather, anticipation is more like the bride who anticipates her wedding by actively preparing for the great event. No one awaits a wedding sitting in a darkened room! Anticipation for the marriage builds as celebrations and preparations mark the way toward the future. In the same way, spiritual practices prepare God’s people for the wedding feast that awaits humankind in the Kingdom. This is no passive expectation of a different future. Practices make space in our lives and the world for the future.
While someone may choose to participate in a certain spiritual practice because it is interesting or feels good or gives their life new meaning, every serious Christian practitioner soon discovers one of the deepest mysteries of these practices: Christian practices all contain within them the dimension of ethics, they anticipate God’s reign, wherein the world will be made right according to God’s love and justice.
Practices are not merely spiritual activities we do to entertain ourselves. Practices enliven and awaken us to the work of God in the world. We anticipate each day knowing that God is in the here-and-now and anticipate, most assuredly, our future will be in the Spirit’s reign of peace. No matter which particular road we travel, if we practice our faith in imitation of Jesus, the outcome will be justice. Our actions witness to this hope. Practices are the connective tissue between what is, what, can be, and what will be.
Spiritual practices are living pictures of God’s intention for a world of love and justice.
From Christianity After Religion, pp. 159-160
Prayer the church's banquet, angel's age,
God's breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth
Engine against th' Almighty, sinner's tow'r,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-days world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul's blood,
The land of spices; something understood.
— George Herbert
The Cottage ADVENT CALENDAR is free and open to all. If you feel called to financially contribute to this work, there are two ways to support The Cottage this December.
If you give a year gift subscription during December, you will receive a copy of my book Grateful in token of my appreciation.
During this entire month, 25% of ALL paid subscriptions (gifts, first time subscriptions, and upgrades) will go to support Rising Hope, a local ministry in my Alexandria neighborhood (about two miles from my house!) that serves immigrants, low-income families, the food insecure, and those without shelter. They are an amazing community - one of genuine courage and compassion.
Before you begin, as in all prayer, remind yourself that you’re in God’s presence, and ask God to help you with your prayer. Gratitude: Recall anything from the day for which you are especially grateful, and give thanks. Review: Recall the events of the day, from start to finish, noticing where you felt God’s presence, and where you accepted or turned away from any invitations to grow in love. Sorrow: Recall any actions for which you are sorry. Forgiveness: Ask for God’s forgiveness. Decide whether you want to reconcile with anyone you have hurt. Grace: Ask God for the grace you need for the next day and an ability to see God’s presence more clearly.
― Fr. James Martin
What great reminders about anticipating heaven and the importance of connecting with God and others through everyday worldly practices!
Interesting to consider how different practices are also anticipations. Enheartening.