"For he who has become your husband is your Maker...The LORD calls you back, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit." Is 54 5-6

Because it is impossible to adequately articulate who God is or how much God loves us,  the bible often uses images and metaphors to invite readers (and pray-ers) to use their imaginations in trying to understand and enter the mystery of God's presence and love. Today Isaiah suggests God is like our husband or wife, a remarkable attempt to draw us closer to the God who promises never to abandon us. Images like this can unnerve us, but that is not their intent. Rather, Isaiah wants to gently break down our easy, familiar categories of belief which can unwittingly lead us to take God and God's care for us for granted. When Isaiah speaks of God as our husband or wife he assures us that God is linked to us forever in a loving relationship of total commitment, even when we are in exile.  Although we might be separated for a while, God, like our wife or husband, will faithfully search for and find us no matter where we wander.

Because Christmas is the commemoration of God's remarkable and almost unthinkable decision to enter human history in a personal way, Advent is a time to search for new images of God that will help us be transformed by what we will soon celebrate. Think about all the rituals associated with Advent and Christmas.  The Advent wreath is traditionally made of evergreens which remind us that God's love is always green, always new, always fresh. Forming an unbroken circle the wreath also reminds us that God's love is never ending.  Lights on our Christmas trees further help us to remember that God is our light in every darkness and a beacon of hope for those who are lost or have been discarded by society.

All of this image changing takes time, however.  Unless we reflect deeply upon the mysteries of faith we uncover through rituals, images and metaphors, Advent and Christmas will pass us by like a flash of lightning, but will leave us unchanged.

Today, ask God to slow you down in order to make Advent a time of conversion and new life.