ADVENT: PAY ATTENTION

BY REV. DR. PEGGY JEAN CRAIG

Pay attention and be part, the first demand, that seems so different and so much like what Jesus asks us to do as we enter Advent–Here’s your job. Here’s your task. Here’s what I need you to do Pay attention. lines before. But it’s the first

And for me, with the busyness, and the buzz, and the bustling, of the season, that’s the only way, the only hope, that I have of experiencing and embracing the joy that is already happening Pay attention.

And for me, with the busyness, and the buzz, and the bustling, of the season, that’s the only way, the only hope, that I have of experiencing and embracing the joy that is already happening Pay attention.

I used to think that paying attention meant nodding your head at the right time when someone was talking, smiling at the right moment, taking notes or jotting down bullets, when necessary,regurgitating whatever had just been said the kind of attention and alertness required for the life changing and mind-blowing truth of God coming to us in the baby of an unwed teenage mom, that kind of paying attention will destroy your notes, and obliterate whatever you think you had figured out.

And that’s good news pillow, a warm cup, and I give thanks to God Now, sound I listen I notice the sounds that I didn’t even realize were sounds before I was paying attention.

And I give thanks for the sound of my husband loading the dishwasher, one of the hundreds of actions that he takes each day to express God’s love and his love for our family And, taste, sometimes this is more difficult. Sometimes I have to do a little recollecting to the last meal or the last snack or drink. It can be a lavish family dinner, or just a simple sip of water, and realizing the scarcity of clean water for so many people, and the importance of water for things like baptism, and beaches, and life—I give thanks to God And usually, by that time, I get back to one of the two sacraments by the time I get to taste, because whether I’ve just had stuffing, ham and rolls, or Christmas tree sugar cookies or communion…I come to realize all that I am smelling, and seeing and feeling and hearing and tasting is communion and it is good. Smell, see, feel, hear, taste…whole being attentiveness, that’s how I’m experiencing joy this Advent Just a daily, 2-minute check –smell, see, feel, hear, taste–an Advent spiritual practice, a prayer engaging all my senses, giving me a moment to pause and drink it all in.

My Advent instructions are what Mary (Oliver, that is) said, and what Jesus said: “Pay attention” and be astonished by the Advent joy that is all around.

Rev. Dr. Peggy Jean Craig is the Pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Germantown in Germantown, TN She lives with her husband, Matt, and twin toddler daughters, Joji and Luca, in Memphis, TN. Email her at peggy.jean.craig@cpcg.org. She will be one of the Preachers at APCE’s Annual Event in 2025.