December 2 - Monday of Week One of Advent

May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2nd Peter 2: 1-3)

My cat Bono prefers to drink water from the water faucet. I've learned that it isn't unusual for cats to enjoy drinking running water as opposed to standing water. Running water is fresh, clean, and healthy. 

Bono always greets me at the kitchen faucet early in the morning, often in the afternoon, and almost all of the time in the evening. He occasionally still tries to get to me to turn the bathroom faucet on but that  feels kind of like a boundary violation to me. He's a good learner though. He knows that if he follows me to the kitchen sink that I'll turn on the water for him. He's likely to get his back scratched too.  It's a fun ritual, for both Bono and me.

Prayer during Advent is sort of like this ritual that my pet cat and I share. It requires us to show up and spend time in love with someone or something else, God. Fortunately God offers unconditional love. The divine faucet of love God offers is not dependent upon human emotional boundaries or the local water company's supply of H2O. It just "is." As the author of Peter's Second Epistle writes. God's divine power unceasingly pours out to us everything we need to life through Christ's glory and goodness.

Moreover, such prayer is grounded in one of Christianity's finest virtues: hope. Bono hopes that I'll turn the water on for him. He meows and especially purrs when he gets the water and his back scratched too. Is it any wonder that he shows up each day?  God gives us much more than 30 seconds of water and a couple of strokes with a brush with quite sharp bristles. In prayer, God gives us time and space to say or think about anything that we wish to offer. In turn, God assures us that whether or not we are thirsty for love, God is there to abide with us.

My prayer for you during the seasons of Advent and Christmas-Tide (December) is that you will rush to a silent faucet of fresh, clean, and healthy prayer at least once each day. I pray that you'll hope for God's presence to be nearby and available and that you'll make yourself available to God, ritually & intentionally. Lastly, if you have a pet, or special person you love; make sure they drink plenty of healthy water and give them an especially gracious shoulder rub that you've prepared  for them, and yourself.

Blessings Along The Way, Jim+