Advent 2C (3:1-6)

​I hope you’ve been able to practice some contemplation in silence during this season of Advent, using the phrase, “Be alert at all times. Stand before the Son of Man.” What this phrase can give you is the insight that God is compassionately present before us as we become more alert or attuned to the present moment. Breathing is an anchor to keep us back from our wandering minds to the present moment in a literal sense. As soon as we focus on our breathing, we’re living in that very moment. Imagine that God is breathing into us as God breathed into the nostrils of the first human being the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). This whole process of God breathing into our nostrils the breath of life is a kind of incarnation taking place within us. Through our breath, God becomes human. I believe this imagery is quite fitting in this Advent season.

This morning, we heard the words of the prophet Isaiah. His words are fulfilled in the ministry of St. John the baptizer. St. John is that voice in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” (Luke 3:4-6) This voice directly speaks to our hearts when we look at every valley, mountain and hill, and the crooked and rough ways in our hearts. 

I recently heard a story about playing chess. A mother and a daughter one night were playing chess. As the game went on, the daughter began to notice that her mom wasn’t a very good chess player, losing her pieces one by one. The daughter became aggressive to take them all but in the end, it turned out her mom had done this as a trap and soon, “Checkmate.” The lesson is that in order for us to win, we have to let go of some of our pieces. Similarly, we can think about what to let go of as we ask the following questions that are reflected in Isaiah’s words:

What valley of deep pain should be filled with healing? What mountain and hill of resentment and rage should be reconciled? What crooked way of looking at people should be made straight? What rough ways for us to reach out to our neighbors are to be made smooth? To tackle these questions, I once again invite all of us to contemplate in silence. Go deep inside, and face ourselves. We can start with breathing and repeating the mantra of “be alert and stand before the Son of God.” Once we ground ourselves in silence, here’s another mantra to direct us to smooth our ways: “Make my paths straight. Make his paths straight.” 

See from my perspective what still hurts, what needs to be healed. See who I feel resentful and enraged with? What narratives am I creating in my mind that I want to believe is correct but actually not so? How do I look at others, particularly those who I don’t like so much? Can I, at least (or at most!), wish them goodwill and send them good intentions as I remind myself that my happiness doesn’t conflict with their happiness, trusting that our true joy comes from within, not from without? Reexamine or reprogram the ways I’ve been feeling hurt by, resentful towards, and hostile to others by asking these questions in meditation. This is to make my paths straight. Another way to make my paths straight is to revisit the confession of sin in the prayer book: “...we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed…” What thought, word, and deed are making my paths uneven? 

Once we get to this point in candor, let’s remind ourselves in hope that this is how his paths are made straight. Only after managing what’s in the way of Christ, we can see the way which has always been here in our hearts. We don’t make the Spirit come and pave but make ourselves see and experience the presence of the Spirit who has never left us all along. As we utter the mantra of “making his paths straight,” the Living Flame of the Spirit may burn into us to think compassionately, her cleansing wind may blow through us to speak wisely, and her fountain of water may well up within us to act out of abundant love and grace. In this contemplative way, Christ walks into the very depth of our hearts, and we see Christ walking in and out of our neighbors’ hearts too. Amen.