12/02/2023
As the days grow shorter and autumn hues give way to winter grays in the Northern Hemisphere, the season of yearning that many in the Christian lineage call *Advent* begins soon. If you're interested in an interspiritual-friendly appreciation of this season's treasures regardless of your spiritual path, please read on!
In ages past Mary began her long journey to Jerusalem with Joseph to oblige their state’s census while growing the life of Emmanuel (God-with-us) within her.
Today we attend to life’s obligations while carrying hoped-for Divine deep within us, too, culminating in our collective celebration of the Christmas season.
But how do we move from life’s hidden gestation to birth?
Can we enter this season without spiritually disassociating?
Oftentimes, Advent is framed as a contest between ‘daybreak’ and ‘darkness,’ resisting the night to usher in the light.
But Henry Vaughan, 17th-century Welsh poet, was moved to observe:
“There is in God (some say),
A deep but dazzling darkness.”
Maybe we receive latent Advent blessings not by chasing away the darkness that we would hide, deny, and repress in ourselves and our current circumstances — but instead by embracing it.
“What you resist, persists,” Swiss psychologist Carl Jung ostensibly said. “What you embrace, dissolves.”
The Messiah whose advent was first anticipated — Jesus of Nazareth — would grow from his nurture in Mary’s dark womb to become an enigmatic figure with powerful inner guidance that bucked the prevailing wisdom of his day. While his own brother James would teach the more standard approach of “resist the devil and he will flee from you,” Jesus advocated for embrace:
“Make friends with your Adversary quickly while you are together on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.” (Matthew, 5:25)
The early 20th-century esoteric teacher G.I. Gurdjieff summarized this subversive path of embrace succinctly:
“If you are meditating and a devil appears, make the devil meditate.”
Can we cease demonizing the darkness?
Can we hold our shadows close this Advent?
I’d like to try. And I’d like this effort to be both practical and beautiful.
Join Michael Morrell, Tripp Fuller, Diana Butler Bass and Philip Clayton for The Cosmic Christ: Advent and the Coming of God. The deep wisdom of this season is an invitation to make space in our lives for the birth of God. The Christmas story is unique in that it looks at a particular family deeply embedded in their own time and place, and yet its significance has always had a cosmic horizon.
Tripp, Diana and Philip will be offering four unique learning teachings:
TEACHING #1: The Cosmic Story - Join Dr. Philip Clayton for an exploration of contemporary scientific cosmology and how it shapes our vision of God’s place in our evolving cosmos.
TEACHING #2: The Coming of Christ - Join Dr. Tripp Fuller for a deep dive into the biblical narrative of Christ and his coming.
TEACHING #3: The Becoming of God - Join Dr. Diana Butler Bass to experience an invitation to practice the coming God in one’s own life.
TEACHING #4: A Groaning Creation and the Birth Pains of God - Join Philip, Tripp, and Diana for a guide to joining God while facing our global challenges.
And Michael Morrell will be offering weekly reflections from mystics Meister Eckhart, John of Ruysbroec, Hildegard of Bingen and Howard Thurman alongside do-able Advent spiritual exercises, encouraging us to embrace the fullness of bearing God in our lives — right here and now.
They're making this offering available for any amount — including gratis. It's important to us that everyone has access to this inquiry during this sacred, challenging season. If this offering resonates with you, please join in. You can find all the details right here: https://homebrewedchristianity.lpages.co/the-cosmic-christ-info-page-2
