A Summertime Advent Reflection

This Advent I contributed a reflection to Christine Sine’s annual Advent blog series on Godspace. The theme of this year’s series is “Coming Home: Uncovering Our Roots in the Advent Story.” Godspace is one of my favorite blogs, especially during Advent. The Advent series includes daily reflections, prayers, resources and a weekly podcast.

You can check out my reflection and the entire Godspace series here…
http://godspace-msa.com/2013/12/05/a-summertime-advent-by-david-bayne/

Preparing for Advent :: 2013

The first Sunday of Advent arrives the Sunday after Thanksgiving…Sunday, December 1. Here is my sixth annual blog post of resources and links in preparation for the Advent season. For those of you who have followed my blog in Advents past, there’s not a whole lot new here. But, I will pass on additional resources and links as I discover them. Please share any additional Advent resources or ideas that have been helpful to you in comments to this blog post.

I have often shared my frustration with reflections of the church calendar seasons that only center around a Northern Hemisphere experience and context. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking them. It’s just that there is a void of reflections, prayers and liturgies from a Southern Hemisphere experience. For example, many Advent reflections often parallel the darkness and waiting of winter, while down here in the Southern Hemisphere summer is upon us and we are enjoying more light and new life. If any of my Southern Hemisphere friends would like to share reflections on Advent from a spring and summer perspective, let me know. I’d love to initiate and compile some reflections on this!

Below if the list of Advent resources and books. Just click on the website or book title to check it out…

CRI/Voice - The Season of Advent: Anticipation and Hope
This is a helpful introduction and summary of Advent.

GodSpace Blog
This Advent Christine Sine will host a blog series, “Coming Home: Uncovering Our Roots in the Advent Story.“ It will include blog posts and reflections from a variety of contributors.

You can also like the Advent Facebook page...HERE.

Ignatian Spirituality Advent Resources
This page includes a variety of resources, including an Advent Retreat booklet based on Ignatian contemplative and prayer practices.

Sacred Space for Advent Online Retreat 2013

Songs for Advent
A couple years ago I discovered this Advent worship digital download. It quickly became a favorite!

Book of Common Prayer Daily Scripture Readings for Advent 
(Year Two - 2013/2014)

Revised Common Lectionary Sunday Scripture Readings for Advent
(Year A - 2013/2014)

Praying Advent
Creighton University’s Online Ministries offers a selection of materials to help people prayerfully enter into Advent, from short prayers to longer reflections and retreats.

Sojourners Top Ten Advent Resources (2012)

Books
The following are a few Advent books I have used in the past or will be using this year.

Sounding the Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year
By Malcolm Guite
I recently discovered this book of sonnets and poetry for the liturgical year. Looking forward to using it beginning this Advent.

Through the Advent Door: Entering a Contemplative Christmas
By Jan L. Richardson
This is a new one for me that I plan to use this Advent. Jan Ricardson has another Advent book called, Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas.

Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent 
By Enuma Okoro
This was published last year and focuses on waiting and longing of Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Monastery Journey to Christmas
By Brother Victor-Antoine D’Avila-Latourrette
I purchased this book a couple years ago and it quickly became a favorite!

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas
This is a great compilation of readings from both classic and contemporary writers.

Waiting for the Light: An Advent Devotional
Christine Sine & Mustard Seed Associates have put together a book of reflections, liturgies, and prayers posted on Godspace blog in years past.

Prayers for Advent

This will be my fourth year posting weekly prayers on Prayers & Creeds. Today I posted my first Advent prayer of the season on the Prayers & Creeds blog. Below the prayer are additional links to some of my favorite Advent prayers posted in years past.

Advent Prayer for Hope

Lord Jesus Christ,

who is, who was, and who is to come,

we pray for the virtue of hope,

that amidst the trials and difficulties

of this world,

we may keep our hearts fixed

upon you, who reigns over the cosmos.

May your grace enliven us,

strengthen us,

and defend us,

as we await your coming in glory. Amen

~David Bennett

(Taken from: http://www.churchyear.net/adventprayers.html)

Prayer for Welcoming Advent

Advent Collect for Southern Hemisphere

Advent Prayer from Walter Brueggemann

Advent Prayer from Henri Nouwen

Awaiting the Christ 

Hope Revived

Speaking of Seasons....

My below “favorite things” post on seasons reminded me of this recent reflection from Blessings of the Daily….

“As we journey along the pleasant and sometimes unpleasant rhythm of the season, we become more and more aware of the immutable wisdom of the seasons and of their Creator. We become more attentive to the questions of living in harmony with nature’s cycles, of looking deep into the seasons which shape our daily lives. From then, we glean inspiration and inner sustenance.

Ultimately, our lives become fully integrated only when we accept the guidance of God and harmonize with the cycles of nature, the cycles of the heart, the cycles of the liturgy, and the cycles of life and death.”

Taken from: Blessing of the Daily: A Monastic Prayer Book by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourette (September 22 entry)

Favorite Things…Buenos Aires Style (#6 – Seasons)

It’s been awhile since my last “favorite things” in Buenos Aires post. As Facebook friends in the U.S. are sharing about pumpkin patches, Halloween costumes, fall colors, carving pumpkins, and crisper weather; we here in Buenos Aires are enjoying some of our first consistent warmer temperatures of spring. September and October are typically warm one day and cold the next. I’ve learned to not put away the warmer clothes too soon. But, I think I can now safely pull out the flip-flops and shorts! The parks and plazas are full of people enjoying the sun.

I have written a lot about the seasons here these past few years. Being from Southern California, experiencing the cycle of seasons was something new to me. And while I whine when it is cold and whine in the sweaty heat, I do enjoy the rhythm of seasons here in Buenos Aires. Below are pictures I took of one tree through the seasons. This tree is just down the street from my apartment.

You can check out my first five favorite things by clicking here.

Autumn & Lent

Lent begins in just one week. I continue to contribute regular reflections to This Ignatian Life blog (http://ignatianlife.org/). As Lent spans the end of summer and beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, I reflected on "Autumn and Lent" in my most recent blog post. For those of you who follow my blog or receive my prayer letters some of this may sound familiar.

You can read my reflection here:

http://ignatianlife.org/autumnandlent/

¡bienvenido primavera!

Welcome spring! Today is the first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere. I took the pictures above this morning across the street from my apartment. On Saturday night our church will welcome spring with its annual spring costume party...fun times!!

At the change of the seasons I often reflect on a great chapter from Parker Palmer in his book, Let Your Life Speak. Here are just a few quotes on spring that sticks with me this morning….

“In my own life, as my winters segue into spring, I not only find it hard to cope with mud but hard to credit the small harbingers of larger life to come, hard to hope until the outcome is secure. Spring teaches me to look more carefully for the green stems of possibility: for the intuitive hunch that may turn into a larger insight, for the glance or touch that may thaw a frozen relationship, for the stranger’s act of kindness that makes the world seem hospitable again.”

“From autumn’s profligate seedings to the great spring giveaway, nature teaches a steady lesson: if we want to save our lives, we cannot cling to them but must spend them with abandon. When we are obsessed with bottom lines and productivity, with efficiency of time and motion, with the rational relation of means and ends, with projecting reasonable goals and making a beeline toward them, it seems unlikely that our work will ever bear full fruit, unlikely that we will ever know the fullness of spring in our lives.”

More reflections on spring, coming soon….

Autumn and Lent

Here's a sneak peak at my March prayer letter. I share some reflections about Lent in the Southern Hemisphere that I posted last year on my blog. Not quite yet autumn here in Buenos Aires, but the temps are cooling down a little.

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." ~Romans 6:8

March 2010

Dear Family & Friends,

March 14 will mark two years here in Buenos Aires! I plan to take a personal retreat that weekend to reflect and give thanks for all God has done! I also give thanks for all my family and friends who have supported me in so many meaningful ways these past two years. My anniversary date happens to also fall during the season of Lent. Here in the Southern Hemisphere, the 40-days of Lent span the closing weeks of summer and the beginning days of autumn.

Last year, while away on my one-year anniversary retreat, I made some helpful parallels between autumn and Lent. I went on a boat ride through the local rivers near the city. Being the last weekend of summer, life along the riverbanks was still green and plush. However, I observed one lone tree that jumped the gun a bit in showing off its autumn colors. There in the mist of all the other green trees, this one colorful tree reminded me that autumn was around the corner.

In his book Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer reflects on the seasons of life. On autumn he writes, “In my own experience of autumn, I am rarely aware of the seeds being planted. Instead, my mind is on the face that the green growth of summer is browning and beginning to die. My delight in the autumn colors is always tinged with melancholy, a sense of impending loss that is only heightened by the beauty all around. I am drawn down by the prospect of death more than I am lifted up by the hope of new life”

Palmer goes on to conclude, “Autumn constantly reminds me that my daily dyings are necessary precursors to new life. If I try to ‘make’ a life that defies the diminishments of autumn, the life I end up with will be artificial, at best, and utterly colorless as well. But when I yield to the endless interplay of living and dying, dying and living, the life I am given will be real and colorful, fruitful and whole.”

I am learning that Lent is a season to die to the self that does not reflect the characteristics true to God’s image and Kingdom. It is a time to confront our false self. It is a time to put to death identity, value, meaning, and purpose that are inconsistent with being created in the image of God for His purposes. I understand one purpose of the disciplines of Lent is to put to death those parts of our lives that prevent us from living more fully into God’s resurrection Kingdom.

Very soon, the abundance of trees lining the streets and filling the parks and plazas of Buenos Aires will once again turn yellow and gold. These remaining weeks of Lent, I pray that these increasing autumn colors will serve as a daily reminder of the areas of my life that I need to die to, so that I can more fully live the resurrection. As Palmer reminds us, these daily dyings are necessary precursors to new life, more fruitful and whole.

With Love & Gratitude, david

What Are We Waiting For This Advent?

This Advent Christine Sine is hosting a blog series, "What are we waiting for this Advent?" on her blog GodSpace. Today my contribution is posted on the blog. Click here or read below.

Advent in the Southern Hemisphere:

Actively Waiting in Newness of Life

This Advent and Christmas season will be my first in the Southern Hemisphere. Since moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina, I have often grumbled about how most church calendar reflections, liturgies, and meditations center around Northern Hemisphere seasons. The themes of Advent usually involve waiting in darkness as nature retreats to survive the cold. On the other hand, Easter themes most often reflect and celebrate the Resurrection alongside the new life of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Having now lived and shared life in Buenos Aires for almost two years, I am now more aware of the opposite rhythms of life and seasons here.

Since I went to visit family and friends in the United States last December, this year will be my first opportunity to observe, reflect, and participate in a spring and summer Advent season. I have already begun to notice some differences. We are quickly approaching the end of the school year and summertime, so there is much activity and anticipation with all that comes with summer breaks and vacations. Near the Christmas decorations at the stores are the summer outdoor supplies with pool and beach toys, patio furniture, and lots of plants and flowers. More and more people are outdoors enjoying the warmer temperatures and the new life in nature. People are anxious to soak in the fullness of green grass and trees in the plazas and parks in the city, engaging in the new life that comes with the season and enjoying it. All this stands in contrast to the Advent meditations of winter and parallels my desire to live my Christian life and faith to the fullest this Advent season.

This Advent, as I consider what I am waiting for, I think of new life! Jesus, the Good Shepherd, tells his disciples in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” Advent is an active waiting! Both Isaiah and John the Baptist proclaim the Advent of the Messiah by teaching the people to prepare the way, make straight paths, and produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:4-8). This active waiting implies engaging in the new life that Jesus brings. Yes, we wait in hopeful anticipation for Jesus’ Second Advent, but we also live into and experience the fullness of new life offered today.

So, the new life of spring and summertime in Buenos Aires will be the lenses through which I observe, reflect, and engage in Advent this year. Our community in Buenos Aires serves among children, youth, and families living in poverty, including those who live and/or work on the streets. How will I give testimony to this newness of life, as I seek be an instrument of the advent themes of hope, peace, joy, and love in the lives of my community and our friends this Advent and Christmas? My Advent desire is to seek and live this newness of life in Jesus that stands in contrast to the things that steal, kill, and destroy. Actively waiting in newness of life!