Bearing Love: An Advent Series - Intro
“You’re going to be pregnant during Advent!”
This was the first thought of one of my best friends who is also a clergy person when I told her the news that I was pregnant with my son. I was a little embarrassed I hadn’t made this connection myself, but once it was pointed out, it started to spark my imagination. What new things would I notice this year? Would I be more connected to Mary in my own state of expecting? Would I feel more connected to the Advent season? Yes, in more ways than I could imagine.
Advent is one of my favorites in our liturgical year, but it can be hard to hold the space. I find it hard to truly appreciate it as the practical demands for preparation often cloud out the spiritual preparation the season intends. Plus, virtues like patience and pausing can be hard to practice. But patience and pausing can sometimes be forced virtues in pregnancy along with so many other ways that our hearts, minds and bodies transform to prepare for new life. Experiencing this holy transformation has really shaped the way I see our current state of becoming as believers, waiting for the fullness of the Kingdom.
We talk about this liminal space we occupy as followers of Jesus as living in both the “already” and the “not yet.” The Kingdom of God is both here and not quite here. So, on this side of Heaven, we are called to wait. And yet, faithfulness is not passively waiting for Jesus’ return, we are invited to a transformative, active faith in the process.
Our waiting is active. Advent is active. I see so many parallels in the waiting of pregnancy that is in itself a transformation. In this series, I look through the birth stories in the Bible, the transformations they present and the ways that we might embody that spirit in our spiritual lives. I also interview women who can connect their stories to these ancient birth stories to share their own reflections on this call to holiness.
While this metaphor for our faith lives is able to connect to some personally, I also must recognize that this holy act of pregnancy isn’t experienced by all women. My intention is not to distance other experiences from the divine. If you are a woman who has chosen not to have children: you are no less holy. If you are a woman who has been longing to have children, but you haven’t been able to conceive: you are no less holy. If you are a woman who has conceived and lost children, and you grieve those losses: you are no less holy. My hope is that the pictures of waiting and preparation aren’t exclusive to pregnancy and birth. While the images are found in these experiences, the call to wait for the kingdom and to be transformed in the process is for us all.
Have a blessed Advent!
Rev. Haley Grace Eccles
Resources:
Creating with God by Sarah Jobe