/ Linda Coggin

I have to confess that when I had the idea to blog excerpts from my old notebook I kept 5 years ago, it seemed like a good one. Then, today, the idea didn’t seem as engaging when my doubts surfaced. I’m going to stick with it, though, because I have learned that fear robs me of joy even when I’m not exactly sure what I’m afraid of.

My notebooks over the years are a respository of my interaction with what I am reading. From scripture to the latest novel, other peoples’ words teach, encourage, challenge, and surprise me and I record these conversations in my daily writing. It is difficult and generative for me to not edit those conversations and let them be. So here is…

Monday, December 3, 2018 (part 2)

The title of today's Advent reading (Celebrating Abundance by Walter Brueggemmann) was "Outrageous God."  The scripture, Isaiah 65:17-19

What I will learn to trust.

The first verse began, "I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me."

I want that for XXXX-- to find God's spirit amid the recovery of self.  And for me, too.  All of us "walk in a way that is not good, following our own devices."  

These verses seem to be words of judgement and consequences that are difficult to hear.  I want the fairy tale.  Yet, God is always present in our lives whether we ask or know or not.

The first verses of Isaiah 65 are our rebellious lives and the consequences but then there is a turn.  In verse 16-- blessing and faithfulness-- where "former troubles are forgotten and hidden from sight."

My re-writing as I let the poetry of verses 17-19 seep into my bones and heart and vision.

For I am about to create
   new reality for you
The former things you fear will
   not be in the forefront or
   come to mind
Be glad and rejoice forever 
   in what I am creating
   for I am about to create
   your life as a joy
   and its people as a delight
I will rejoice in the new
   reality and delight in my family
No more shall fear be the 
   basis for my relationships
No more will fear be my
   dwelling place.

The poem in Isaiah is outrageous, Walter B. says, and mine is too.  And I'm learning from the stories of Advent I am not the one who decides or orchestrates what is possible.

What I hear in Walter Brueggemmann's words is that in Advent we receive the power of God that lies beyond us-- the gospel's resolution to our spent "self- sufficiency," when we are at the edge of our coping. 

It is good news that counters our cynicism that imagines no new things can enter our world.

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