08/12/2024

Second Sunday of Advent

“All mankind shall see the salvation of God. ” I would prefer “ all humanity shall see the salvation of God.”  After all, 49.6% of humanity are women.

Attached to my computer screen in Vaughan House, is a challenging quote from Frederick Nietzsche, “I might believe in the redeemer if his followers looked more redeemed.”  I like to add “looked and acted.”

“Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” Coined in 1950 by  University of California, Los Angeles - football coach Red Sanders. It suggests that winning is all that matters - everything else is secondary. 

If applied to our becoming capax Dei - capable of life with God - and thus  when our time on earth runs out - be born into heaven, it is spot on.  Wealth, fame, popularity and power are of no importance once we die. Holiness  - how God sees us - is everything.

Our whole life can be seen as an Advent - a preparation for our birth into divine eternity  at which we shall see Jesus Christ: his ‘second coming’.

Our past is a rehearsal for now. In that rehearsal we can learn how not only to improve our behaviour but also grow in forgiveness – mercy even - with the failings of others. And consequently, become more Christlike.

A poem underpinning my life’s strategy is:

Good, better best, 

I never let them rest

until my good is better 

and my better best.

I keep trying. I hope I do not try you.