Sunday, November 28, 2010

Clearing A Path for Christmas



I spent the first day of Advent hiking along the Natchez Trail in Nashville, TN with my family. The trail was well cleared in some areas with trees and logs freshly cut down laying along the side of the trail. Other sections were steep and rocky and we often slipped and stumbled along the way. This was partly due to the nature of the trail and partly due to the fact that I was not necessarily wearing the best hiking shoes.

Walking along the trail, I thought a lot about this Advent season. In particular, I thought about the text for this Sunday from the first chapter of Luke: the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way for Christ. How prepared am I for the birth of Christ again during this Christmas season? What logs are lying across the road of my life right now? What needs to be cleared away? What are the things getting between me and God? Am I jealous? Greedy? Is there sin in my life? Have I stopped praying regularly? How can I once again listen to John the Baptist this Advent season and prepare a path for Christ in my life again?

Or perhaps the trail is simply rocky. There are bumps and slippery spots along the road of life. These are not simply trees that have fallen across the road and can be cleared away. These are the realities of life and I simply need good walking shoes. I need to be reading scripture, praying, spending time in worship and community, serving, giving, sharing. I need to prepare my heart to receive Christ even along the rocky path of life.

How will the paths in your life be made straight this Advent season? What logs do you need to God to clear from your life? Or what do you need to do to put on your hiking shoes?

Welcome, once again, to another season of Advent... I am planning on posting and blogging each day as part of clearing the logs in my own life. I hope they will help you do the same.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Very well said, Joann. Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to your posts during Advent.

Marci Baker

Jo Ann Deasy said...

Marci... so good to hear from family! I just wish we lived closer to we could connect once in a while!

Stacey said...

This Advent season finds me feeling overwhelmed. To use your analogy, I am standing in a wood on a trail and ALL i see in front of me are logs scattered every which way. it's not a question of do logs need to be cleared-its obvious they do. the issue is how on earth do i even begin to pick them up? its a confusing log jam laying ahead of me and i haven't a clue, or the energy, or the clarity to even begin to know what to do next. So i am just going to stand there and stare at the logs and wait for God to come and put on my hiking shoes for me and begin to clear the logs out himself. I'm just too damn tired.