Seeking Peace in this Advent Season: A Bread for the World Devotional
A message from Rev. Nancy Neal of Bread for the World:
As a community focused on advocacy, the promise of the peace of Emmanuel – God with us – grounds us, brings us joy, and prepares us for the work that is before us. That is why we chose the theme Seeking Peace in this Advent Season. We hope that peace may be a balm for our souls on the heels of an election, continued hunger and violent conflict in the world, and the beginning of a new liturgical year.
Each weekly devotional message approaches peace with a different invitation: Lisa Sharon Harper invites us to find peace in remembering God’s promises. Eddie Kaufholz invites us to pause and be still as a way of preparing for Christ’s coming. Kimberly Mazyck invites us to find joy as we turn over our burdens to God. And Rev. Fr. Nicholas Anton invites us to let the proclamation of God’s justice change us from the inside out.
Take your time as you read. While the reflections are short, there is a lot packed into each of them. Every person may engage with each devotional in different ways. Trust yourself and your body.
At the end of each reflection, we intentionally invite you to a series of spiritual practices to provide grounding in a time of transition in politics and in the world around us.
On behalf of Bread for the World staff, we wish you a meaningful and joy-filled Advent.
– Rev. Nancy Neal
Weekly devotional themes
Advent Week 1: “Remembering God’s Promises”
Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-15
Reflection: Advent is the time of waiting. We wait for light to cut the darkness of destruction and desolation and dystopian despair. It is the context before the revelation of Emmanuel, God with us. It is what we practice to ground ourselves in the floating space where chaos rules and light is a faint memory.
Advent Week 2: “Preparing by Being”
Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-15
Reflection: About a year ago, I developed an interest in Transcendental Meditation (TM, if you’re in the know) and enrolled in a “Basics of TM” course. It was enlightening.
Sure, there were the woo-woo, vaguely spiritual elements of meditation that piqued my curiosity about the practice. Yet, despite all the new and curious elements of this course, nothing was more impactful to me than what my TM teacher instructed me repeatedly: “You don’t have to do anything. The meditation will happen. Simply be present. Be where you are.”
Advent Week 3: “Rejoicing in God’s Promise of Peace”
Scripture: Philippians 4:4-7
Reflection: As a child, I was always excited when it was time to light the solitary pink candle on the Advent wreath.
This year, as we enter the third week of Advent, I am particularly aware of God’s presence and promise despite the events in the past few months: executions, elections, ongoing conflict in Sudan, Ukraine and near the birthplace of Jesus in Israel and Palestine. The prophet Zephaniah reminds us that God is in our midst and turning our enemies away. I know that I must surrender my anxiety and worries to God and remember that God is always with me. It is during this time of Advent that as we wait, we prepare ourselves for the most joyful promise of all, God’s promise to send Christ to the world.
Week 4: “Proclaiming God’s Justice”
Scripture: Luke 1:52-54
Reflection: Proclaiming God’s justice — what in his teaching the Lord described as good news to the poor … freedom to the oppressed (Luke 4:18) — contextualizes peace as manifest through our relationship with and in Christ. This is the authentic communal response for the common good. Otherwise, justice can assume many other forms, including revenge and retaliation. Outside of the perspective or path of Christ, an eye-for-an-eye justice may seem reasonable or rational; but it is actually a self-centered and self-focused response. In the light of Christ, the way of retribution is not justice, but selfishness.