Advent Devotional, Nov. 27: “Wolves are Coming” by The Rev. Kaji Douša

November 27th,2016 Categories: Advent, Latest News

nov-27

The wolves are coming.

Assess your life.

Do you feel like a wolf? Or like a lamb? Are you the predator? Or do you feel like prey?

It could be that you most align with the prey. Someone else has the power, and you sense that they want more—maybe even some of yours. Or, it could be that you align with the predator. You see opportunity, and you feel empowered—as if it is your destiny—to conquer.

A life of faith requires us to see both/and. To know that there is something in you that is vulnerable.
And something in you that needs to be aggressive.

In Advent, we are called to awaken to these senses, to know that we are both wolves and lambs, both at once, and that both are beloved in God’s sight. Beloved and challenged to remember both at once.

Waken from your sleep to know yourself to be part of a family that includes people who seem quite
different, quite distant, even oppositional. Awake and wonder where God might step in to soften the
blows of your aggression, to strengthen you in your exposure.

It is time to wake up. A world is at stake as we align in oppositional corners. What if people in each corner knew themselves to be fighters for both sides? What would it mean to know yourself to be more complex, more empowered, more fierce? What would it mean to acknowledge yourself to be fully open? At risk? In need of protection?

Awaken lamb. Stand down, wolf. Move forward as protector, not predator. Stand tall with and as the
vulnerable. You are not helpless. You have a God-with-us, Emmanuel, with you.

O Come, Infinite One, and lift me to a place of new awakening. I am ready
for more.

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United Church of Christ Stillspeaking Devotional Published by Pilgrim Press. Shared with permission of the publisher.