by Rev. Cory Bradford-Watts

Readings

Isaiah 40:27-31

Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 9:2,6-7a

The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.

Read the written message below with music videos:

We all hope. We hope for this desire or that, for this justice or that award. And we hope we are safe in any situation. The hopes that we have can paint a picture of what we are about in our lives, what our gods are. Unfortunately, most hopes undermine our sense of peace and compassion as they are centered on fleeting things: our bodies, our reputations, our lust, our memory, and on. Indeed, the scriptures of many traditions share in the idea that our shared hope should be on the increase of love, peace, and wisdom itself, since, as we come to hope for these things, they naturally become more apparent within us and then, our hope transforms into the confidence and trust inherent in these eternal attributes.

Coming into the Christian Advent season, it’s interesting to realize that the four Sundays leading up to Christmas have themes. The first of which is (often) “Hope,” and then “Love,” “Peace,” and finally, “Joy.” I find this first Sunday particularly telling, as I believe “hope” is typically one of the first steps in all of our spiritual journeys – just after, “Let there be [spiritual] light,” when we become aware of something deeper in the universe than a shallow idea of matter and mind.

In the best of circumstances, hope helps our spiritual growth. In Biblical terms, we’re called to “hope on God.” Which sometimes seems to mean that we put our hopes in the idea that all things are in Divine hands. This is a tough one when we look around us and see all the trauma and pain in the world – what should we hope that God will do? Stop the things that are already happening around us? Can our hope change these things and transform the world?

Yes, I think so. The light of spiritual hope is like the Advent star appearing in the sky, leading us to innocence, love, peace, and joy. The transformation starts in our hearts and minds, the most substantive things in the universe, and then spreads to the surrounding world by impacting other hearts and minds. Thus, our greatest hope should be our collective further awakening toward the God(dess) within, the God at the root of all being and consciousness, the source of all love and wisdom, and all gifts of form. This God is the light of transcendent peace and is shared by all beings, making us all One in him in all our positive attributes – no matter our traditions or lack thereof.    

This great hope, that we should further uncover our image of God within (to let God advent!), gives us impetus to notice all the fantasies and fleeting desires and fears we are often distracted by. It allows us to see our trauma and arrogance as they arise, and know, “That’s not truly me, I am made in the image and likeness of God, and I am one with all.” This may start as just a hope in and of itself, but as we take this hope seriously, we can’t help but find the truth in it.

So yes, Advent is a season of hope. Sometimes I can’t help but think during this season, wouldn’t confidence or trust work better here? But when sitting with the concept, it becomes clear that hope is almost always a key part of our journeys – why skip ahead? Indeed, as Swedenborg saw in his parabolic interpretation of scripture, God is often a God of process. Working spontaneously in our lives while still allowing us the meandering that we require (or desire), due to God’s love of freewill. Indeed, when hope is set on something eternal (on God and God’s qualities), that hope is more of a process of helping our minds catch up to a place deep down in our hearts.

Sometimes the best we can do is to hope to want to change, a step removed from actually wanting spiritual growth. This at least means that we are opening the door to an awareness that we could use some change. Sometimes the best we can do is hope that one day we might want to turn toward better habits or a better state of mind. This type of hope becomes more powerful than we can imagine, however, if we allow it to invite us toward spiritual and therapeutic practices – like what we often practice in our services. We should allow even this hope to guide us to a meditative or prayerful practice, which helps us become aware that our open awareness itself is a place of peace and compassion. As we meditate on this deep sense of awareness and being, letting our thoughts come and go without identification with them, we might find that we can sometimes skip the truly wanting to change to the change itself.

Like the journeying wisemen, we would be wise to follow the star of hope through to the manger within. Following it we find that all of a sudden, as we come over a hill or around a corner, we start to get sight of the adorable God-child within. To each of us this child will look a bit different, like with any changing perspective on something so Divine and bright.

As we come closer, we will see the profound love of the mother Mary within us as well. Not the exact spirit of Mary from 2,000 years ago, but the spirit of creation, compassion, comfort, servanthood, and insight within. As we follow our hope on God’s qualities, which might for a time seem high above us, we find that God is right ahead of us, deeper within. Beaming like a new dad, exuding mercy and steadfastness. Crying like a dumbfounded companion, shocked by their fortune. Humbled like a shepherd, finding that there’s a greater shepherd looking out for her. Peaceful and open like a newborn babe, without a fear in the world and carrying no worry, with only one hope: God.  

Peace and presence to you,

Rev. Cory

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