The Henri Nouwen Society of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Daily Meditation: "The Fullness of Time" for Monday, 18 December 2017
DAILY MEDITATION: "The Fullness of Time" for Monday 18 December 2017
Photo courtesy of Judith Leckie
Jesus came in the fullness of time. He will come again in the fullness of time. Wherever Jesus, the Christ, is the time is brought to its fullness.
We often experience our time as empty. We hope that tomorrow, next week, next month or next year the real things will happen. But sometimes we experience the fullness of time. That is when it seems that time stands still, that past, present, and future become one; that everything is present where we are; and that God, we, and all that is have come together in total unity. This is the experience of God's time. "When the completion of the time came [that is: in the fullness of time], God sent his Son, born of a woman" (Galatians 4:4), and in the fullness of time God will "bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in the heavens and everything on earth" (Ephesians 1:10). It is in the fullness of time that we meet God.
For further reflection...
At midnight the cry rang out: "Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!" (Matthew 25: 6 (NIV))
Your response...
Can you recall a time when you experienced the love and closeness of God in a particularly special way?
Comment on this meditation.
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The Henri Nouwen Society of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Daily Meditation: "A Second Death" for Sunday, 17 December 2017
DAILY MEDITATION: "A Second Death" for Sunday 17 December 2017
Photo courtesy of Paul Williamson www.colourbox.ca
Hell is a second death. This is what the Book of Revelation says (Revelation 21:8). Just as there is an eternal life, there is an eternal death. Eternal life is a second life; eternal death is a second death. Our first death can be a passage not only to eternal life but also to eternal death.Looking at hell as a second death takes away the images of eternal suffering and torture that are so prevalent in medieval art and literature. It defines hell more as the refusal to choose life than as a punishment for wrongdoing. In fact, the sins that the Book of Revelation mentions as leading to eternal death are choices for death: murdering, worshipping obscenities, sexual immorality, lying, and so on (see Revelation 21:8). When we sow death we will reap death. But when we sow life we will reap life. It is we who do the sowing!
For further reflection...
"The one who sows to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (Galatians 6: 8 (NIV))
Your response...
What would it mean for you to sow and reap life, instead of death?
Commenton this meditation.
Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Lifesigns".
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The Henri Nouwen Society of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Daily Meditation: "Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent" for Sunday, 17 December 2017
Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (Thessalonians 5:16 - 18)
So celebrating means the affirmation of the present, which becomes fully possible only by remembering the past and expecting more to come in the future. But celebrating in this sense very seldom takes place. Nothing is as difficult as really accepting one's own life. More often than not the present is denied, the past becomes a source of complaints, and the future is looked upon as a reason for despair or apathy.
When Jesus came to redeem mankind, he came to free us from the boundaries of time. Through him it became clear not only that God is with us where our presence is in time and space, but also that our past does not have to be denied but can be remembered and forgiven, and that we are still waiting for him to come back and reveal to us what remains unseen.
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It's not too late to participate in our Advent Book Discussion. This season we continue with Henri Nouwen's Love, Henri: Letters on the Spiritual Life. Facilitated by Brynn Lawrence and Ray Glennon, you are welcome to read along, join in, or just enjoy the insights offered by readers from around the world.
This week's Advent reflection is from Creative Ministry © Henri J.M. Nouwen. Published by Penguin Random House and reprinted here with publisher's kind permission.
Photo Credit: Henri Nouwen by Frank Hamilton, used with kind permission.
Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent
Embrace Your Own Life
Besides affirming life and remembering it, celebration is filled with expectations for the future. If the past has the last word, a man would imprison himself more and more the older he became. If the present were the ultimate moment of satisfaction, he would cling to it with hedonistic eagerness, trying to squeeze the last drop of life out of it. But the present holds promises and reaches out to the horizons of life, and this makes it possible for us to embrace our future as well as our past in the moment of celebration...So celebrating means the affirmation of the present, which becomes fully possible only by remembering the past and expecting more to come in the future. But celebrating in this sense very seldom takes place. Nothing is as difficult as really accepting one's own life. More often than not the present is denied, the past becomes a source of complaints, and the future is looked upon as a reason for despair or apathy.
When Jesus came to redeem mankind, he came to free us from the boundaries of time. Through him it became clear not only that God is with us where our presence is in time and space, but also that our past does not have to be denied but can be remembered and forgiven, and that we are still waiting for him to come back and reveal to us what remains unseen.
one heart at a time.
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Advent Online Book Discussion
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For more information, click here.This week's Advent reflection is from Creative Ministry © Henri J.M. Nouwen. Published by Penguin Random House and reprinted here with publisher's kind permission.
Photo Credit: Henri Nouwen by Frank Hamilton, used with kind permission.
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Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Scripture chosen by L. Yeskoo.
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