I had a great conversation with my religious studies TA today. We talked about traveling, family, etc. which lead to our faith and common belief that God is everywhere and that He is love. It is important to note that He is not described by the definition of love that dominates in our culture. God is Agape love: self-sacrificing love, a self-gift to us.
As I was walking home I was thinking about how God gave us the gift of His Son, who was born on Christmas day. A huge part of loving is giving. I don’t think there is one person who can say that he doesn’t receive joy from giving to the less fortunate. This is something all of humanity experiences. When we give, we experience a deep sense of satisfaction and joy.
Then I thought about evolution (crazy right? I promise I’m not going off on a tangent). Evolution operates on the concept of “survival of the fittest” and even animals in nature naturally leave behind the weak, less unfortunate. The concept of giving is not natural for animals.
But that’s not the case with humans. Why are we so different from the animals from which we supposedly have evolved? One of the reasons is the presence of a conscience through which the Holy Spirit can speak to us. Also, we have this desire to give because we are made in the image of our Creator, who gives abundantly.
In this season of Advent, I pray that we all grow in His love. I pray for the courage to give His love, and that we would let the Holy Spirit guide us to give it to those who need it most.
PS. FYI: advent is derived from the latin word "adventus" meaning "coming" aaaaaaaand, the colour PURPLE is used during advent because it represents a penitential spirit :)
Actually, Purple represents HOPE and although advent is a time for preparation, it is not penitential like Lent, rather it is for devout and joyful expectation :)
ReplyDeleteRACHEEELLL!!!!!! You are awesome... actually scratch that... God is awesome! But you are great too :P God bless you!
ReplyDeleteI looked it up again... "The purple signifies that Advent is a season of repentance as well as expectation." Every website I have visited said it too is penitential as well as hopeful...also "The purple candles in particular symbolize the prayer, penance, and preparatory sacrifices and goods works undertaken at this time."
ReplyDeleteExcellent reflection on giving! I enjoyed it and I'll be looking forward to more.
ReplyDeleteTo add a thought, I believe the greatest gift we can give is the gift of our self. And also that every gift we give that is meaningful must include at least a small giving of our self.
As Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Keep up the good work, Canadians! Happy Advent!