God seeks us out

 There is often a belief that the spiritual life commences with us. This often starts with a question about what brings meaning to our existence. Many self-books seek to set out methods or ways of being present in the age in which we live. While some may guide us to a point of self-reflection they can also isolate us in seeing this journey as our own private adventure. Thus we see it pushed to the margin of our society as a hobby or a way of engaging our time when we have nothing else to do.

Yet the readings for this weekend acknowledge a different reality. God comes searching for us. This recognizes in Isaiah how we can become blinded or deafened by the many competing voices and directions which are presented to us. But essentially God desires a relationship with us, not just a plan that can be followed. It calls us to patiently cultivate this relationship.

As we see in Matthew's gospel even John the Baptist had questions about whether Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus points to the reality of being healed, renewed, and known. This acknowledges that we are called to discover who we are in God's eyes and how we are looked upon with abiding love. This can be an unexpected surprise as often we engage with God believing that we are not good enough to be loved. There is nothing that can be further from the truth. God seeks us out when we least expect it and when we can feel that we do not deserve to be loved so intimately. We can feel so small when God can appear so big. I believe this is why Advent is so important we prepare a place in our hearts for a small child who seeks to befriend and draw us closer. It is this non-threatening approach that allows us to prepare a place where God can be at home with us and where we can prepare to hold him close to our hearts.

So this is how we enter into this week with a sense of joyful anticipation that God seeks to be with us even in the most mundane and everyday tasks. God seeks us out long before we seek God.