14 November 2025 #lookJesusintheeye
It’s so easy for the Christmas frenzy to take hold of our calendar and our soul. There’s holiday music in the stores, festive decorations in our homes, and concerts full of cute kids with angelic voices to attend. We have gifts to buy and cookies to bake. Travel plans to make and events to schedule in. There is just a lot going on. And it’s all good.
But is it Good, with a capital “G”?
We’re on a ‘farming patiently’ theme… we are the newest members of the “slow-soul-movement” who are anti-frenzy this Advent, yes? The readings, once again, tie right in. Isaiah reminds us that the harvest will come, eventually. What looks barren now will flower and what is now silent will rejoice. We don’t know exactly how things will shake out but we know that the Lord is faithful, so it will happen. Those competing kid-concerts or back-ordered presents or replacement lights? All will be well. Come next June, we won’t even remember it. Right? So what will we remember? What will the Lord remember?
The poet Maya Angelou once said, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
How do we make people feel? How do we make the Lord feel? The psalmists asks us to seek justice for the oppressed, give food to the hungry, help those less fortunate, and protect the stranger. At the time of the psalmist, those things couldn’t be done by a donation to Hastings Family Services. In a farming community, other people came to offer you help in a barn-raising or a planting season or a harvesting season if you suffered some sort of adversity. You had to look someone in the eye when you offered them your assistance. Who might you gaze at this week, both in the earthly and heavenly realms?
Paul reminds us to be patient this Advent, as “the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth.” He’s thinking, of course, of the immanent coming of Jesus, which doesn’t actually happen like they all thought. The Lord’s timing is far different than ours. It’s also true that everyone’s soul moves at a different speed… and change takes time. We think we should see results in a week – thanks to our instant gratification world - but such is not the case. A good soul-planting takes time. And patience. And prayer. And a lot of looking at Jesus through the eyes of the heart.
And as the good book of Matthew says in our Gospel today, we have to keep our eyes and heart laser-focused on Who is to come: This wee babe in a manger, who grew in wisdom and holiness, who has the potential and power to change a life. We, as his followers… his apprentices… are to also grow in holiness and wisdom and change the lives of others around us by talking about the only One who can heal what ails the world. Gently. Patiently. Slowly. What – or more rightly - Who has the focus of your attention? #lookJesusintheeye