Kate Bowler: Hello, I’m Kate Bowler, and it’s the most wonderful, I’m not going to sing, but it is the most wonderful time of the year here at Everything Happens. Are you ready? Have you seen those jaw-dropping images coming in from the James Webb Space Telescope? It’s nuts. They are photos of deep space and they are wild and surreal. Pillars of gas and dust, clouds of yellows and oranges and blues. It’s all the mystery and dazzling beauty of the universe. And when you look at them, you get the immediate sense that there is so much out there. But it’s not here yet. It kind of reminds me of Advent, which is that stretchy stretch leading up to Christmas. And if you’re just a Christmas person, look, you’re going to like this. There’s a chunk before all of December, in fact, where you just get to look forward to something. Not look forward like a list, like, did you get the presents already? But the kind of sweetness of a certain waiting. An advent is a promise of something incredible coming our way, just like those distant galaxies slowly making their light known to us. And it’s a season that isn’t just about waiting. It’s about that lovely, quiet, stubborn hope that even in the middle of whatever is going on right now in loneliness or frustration or stress or feeling like there’s cracks in the universe, that something beautiful is still on its way. And I have to admit, I absolutely love this time of year. I know it’s a mixed bag for many people. But my dad, I want to be like, no, no, no, hear me out, my dad is the world’s expert in the history of Christmas, and that is a true story. So I spent most of the summers of my teenage years as his paid researcher for like Christmas in Bulgaria or inversion rituals where kings become beggars and they take orphan children and make them Christmas children kings. I mean, obviously you can tell from the specificity that I was a very good researcher. But what I realized that Christmas isn’t just like the day. It’s a whole season where we get to think in a certain way. We get to pause and reflect not just with some forced cheerfulness, but with a real acknowledgment of the mess and the splendor. Not the time to gloss over hard stuff, but the chance to really lean in and look at the world from a different angle with the not-yet-ness that Christmas shows us.
Kate: Here at Everything Happens, Advent has become a beloved tradition for our team and this year is no different. We created a daily guide to walk you through Advent and if you want it, it’s called The Weary World Rejoices: A Daily Advent Devotional. And the best part is that it is totally free. You can head over to katebowler.com/advent to download it and start now. This is a guide that isn’t just about telling neat and tidy holiday stories. It’s about walking through the season with your eyes wide open. Seeing the world as it is, being able to, I don’t know, live with its cracks and flaws, but really holding on to that hope that everything wrong will one day be made right. So it’s full of daily reflections, questions to mull over, response activities and opportunities to dive deeper into the themes of Advent. And I hope it’s just a reminder, like at the very deepest part, it is a reminder that there’s companionship for the journey, that there is comfort and honesty and small reminders that you are not alone. And have I mentioned how beautifully designed it is? Well, it’s classy, friends. It’s classy. So if you haven’t joined us yet in this tradition, thousands of people, and that’s true. Thousands of people join us every year to do this. So I really want you to jump in. You’re not too late. You can dive in any time. And I really hope you will. You can find the guide at katebowler.com. And we’ve linked it in the show notes just for you.
Kate: So in that spirit for today’s episode, I’m excited to share with you an excerpt from this year’s Advent Guide. We’ll be diving into one of the days just to give you a taste of what’s inside. Whether you’re following along with the guide or just listening in because you need a hot minute today to have some Adventy feelings, I really hope it speaks to you and brings you a little peace and light. We’re going to be right back after a break to hear from our sponsors. Don’t go anywhere.
Kate: Do you sometimes feel like you’re swimming in the seas of ambiguity and contradiction? Like one minute the world makes sense and I know who I am and what I’m good at. And the next I’m questioning myself. My gifts, my worth, my everything. Like is my problem or pain too much? Did I screw everything up? Did I really say that one dumb thing and are other people still thinking about it? Am I good enough as a parent, as a friend, as a partner, as a coworker? Shouldn’t I have figured this out by now? Maybe you have similar questions spinning around in your mind. I’m really beginning to think this is part of what it means to be human. That one minute we’re messy and stingy and irritable, and the next we can be absolutely radiant with beauty and wonder and generosity. And somehow we are all of these things. But sometimes it’s in the mirror of another’s perception that we can see the truth. My friend, writer Kelly Corrigan describes this work, this seeing through the life of her dad, who she affectionately calls Greenie. Greenie was like a mirror to her friends growing up. He’d say stuff to them like, You truly are a wonder. Or, wow, you’re really amazing. Or you’re the discovery of a lifetime. I love thinking about somebody’s dad saying that to me. Greenie died a few years ago, but Kelly’s friends still remember his words of encouragement with a huge ball of gratitude in their hearts. Because when we’re overwhelmed with brokenness or sorrow, we need people to remind us that we are still good and there is still goodness in the world. That we can be forgiven, that things aren’t too late, that we are loved, loved, loved, not for what we do, but for who we are. This act of mirroring reflects back to us the truth that we are becoming. We are still being made. In fact, creating and restoring is God’s specialty. Let’s take a moment to reflect. Who in your life acts as a mirror, reflecting the truth of your beauty and wonder back to you? How does being in their presence make you feel? Let’s see if we can practice seeing other people, seeing their wonderful absurdities with awe and wonder today. So for whom can you be a mirror? And as you sit with these questions, I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can find me online @katecbowler, or leave us a voicemail at (919) 322-8731. In the busyness of our lives, not to mention all of the holiday bananas-ness, we often forget our belovedness. Make time today to soak up this truth, like basking in the sunshine. And now I’d like to offer you a blessing. One that reminds you of what’s true about you. When God thought you up, it was a good day. A lovely dream realized in God’s imagination. A celebration, from before you were born. You were made out of God’s overflowing love in who you were and are and would become. God saw it all from way before the beginning till way past the end and saw that it was good. This one, God said, this one I love. I delight in the beauty and the promise, the wonder and the glory that is this one whom I have made. And my gaze is ever upon them, constant and warm like the sun at golden hour. Gentle as starlight, transforming and continuing. Calling forth all the growing, all the becoming that is to be done. Remember this truth. You were made by a love for love to love.
Kate: And before I forget, we also put together an Advent playlist. I will link it for you in the show notes. And hey, thank you for spending this time with me today. May you walk away feeling a little more seen, a little more loved, and a lot more aware of the wonder that you are. Until next time, my dears. Remember, you’re a wonder created by a love for love and to love.
Leave a Reply