 |
| "Day 325. Jumping In" CC BY-SA 2.0 by David Mulder Sourced from Flickr |
This week, a friend and
I went to a trampoline park - one of those places where you can bounce like a
cartoon tiger. There's dodge ball, and basketball dunking and warrior
challenges and flinging yourself into a pit of foam blocks. Neither of us had
ever been to one of these places - it was hilarious!
Perhaps we would not
have had the great time we did, if we were less comfortable with each other.
You see, you have to suspend any semblance of grace when you spend a couple of
hours jumping on trampolines and into foam block pits. You fall, you sweat,
your hair goes all manner of directions, you fumble trying to get back on your
feet. Most of our laughter was at ourselves:
my friend did a great balletic flop off the warrior challenge, I repeatedly made
a (apparently) hilarious face when my brain decides that leaping into the
unknown is simply not going to happen. (There were no wild backflips or
fantastic gymnastics from me.)
My friend and I are
comfortable with each other. We trust one another. And we encouraged each
other, pushing ourselves a little bit out of our comfort zone. By the end, she
was trying side-wall bounces; I managed an adequate leap into the foam pit.
Because of this, we
laughed, we celebrated, we had a great time. We made new memories, we had tried
new things. We knew that there was a risk (there's a risk to everything
though!) and proceeded with caution. We joked that it would be a great place
for a community-building event, or a first date.
The next morning, as my
muscles reminded me that I had in fact done quite a workout, I realised that
jumping in at the trampoline park was a perfect analogy for Advent. There's
trepedation and enthusiasm; there's a knowledge of own skills and a desire to
improve; there's an element of boldness contrasting one of vulnerability. During Advent, while our bodies are caught
in a whirlwind of busyness, it's a great time for some spiritual retreat and
renewal. It's an opportunity to rest and recreate for a time, to have some fun,
to be silly while being cautious. It's a time to challenge ourselves
spiritually, to encourage others who are journeying alongside us. It's a season
for trying new things, for opening ourselves up to new experiences and new
encounters. It's a now and not yet, an elation and an anticipation, an
experience for every level of experience and expertise.
Advent: an adventure
with God - but only when we choose to make the leap. Let's jump in.
Hello Laura Marie. I am a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am blessed and feel privileged and honoured to get connected with you as well as know you and your interest in prayer. I enjoyed your blog post which is has good analogy of your jumping experience with that of Advent> It is indeed it is very true that is a great time for some spiritual retreat and renewal and so on> I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 39 yrs in this great city of contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. We also encourage young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come to Mumbai to work with us during your vacation time. I am sure you will have a life changing experience. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings on you,your family and friends also wishing you a blessed and a joyous Christmas season and a prosperous and a Christ centred coming new year 2019.My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede.
ReplyDelete