Monday, December 1, 2008

Advent Devotion #6

Today's devotion from Goshen College:

DEC. 1 - PREPARE THE WAY

By Luke Gascho, executive director of Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College

THIS WEEK'S THEME: Prepare the way

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DEVOTIONAL:

I delight in a clearly marked trail. As I walk down a trail close to my office, I recall that the trail hasn't always been there. Yet now it is so familiar and welcoming.

I don’t tire of walking down this path because I know that in each season I will find newness -- sometimes in predictable ways and at other times with amazement.

The trail was designed ten years ago as a way of getting visitors into the woods, meadows and wetlands in a hospitable way. A trailhead kiosk marks the entrance so the access is without question. A slight meandering of the path through the trees draws the visitor into a captivating experience. The surface is smooth and the way is distinct.

The result is that the focus is not on the trail, but on the beauty that surrounds the path -- and on what is ahead.

The biblical texts you will read this week are quite familiar to me -- just like the trail. I have heard and read them since I was a child. They are filled with word pictures, directions, cries for change and comfort. There is much to learn along this trail of Scriptural reflection. Our observations will go from the land at our feet to the sky of the future. Patience in the seasons of life, confession of our transgressions and turning to the new creates change.

Renewal happens as we traverse the way in peace.

Like pilgrims on a voyage, it is good to know someone has gone this way before. A trailblazer has marked out the path.

The passageway is okay. We can journey in this place and time with confidence.

View all of this season's devotions at http://www.goshen.edu/devotions

Goshen College

http://www.goshen.edu

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