Kirkepiscatoid

This year for Advent, I got a copy of the little heapo-cheapo booklet of Advent devotionals from the folks who publish Forward Day by Day--"Hearing God Through the Noise" by Albert Kennington. It looks like a handy little publication for my Advent reading, and I look forward to starting on it on Monday.

I am always drawn back to an image that I can still see vividly when I close my eyes. A few years back, I had come home from something or another on a dark cold December night. It was a period of time about three or four years after I had moved back to Kirksville, and a period when I was questioning if "I had done the right thing." Some things were happening in my life that were emotionally and financially strapping me, and when I moved back here, it was with the full realization that I would never be able to earn what is even close to "standard", "average", or "median" in my field. It was with the realization that one of the prices for "a more laid back lifestyle" was that I assumed more responsibility than usual in my field for less money. By local standards, I earn a good living. By national standards, I don't. I was in a period of my life I was coming out of considerable educational debt, and some family and personal matters were adding to that debt.

I remember coming home to my dark yard, and the cold air being so crisp that you could literally hear my two donkeys chewing, their noise of their teeth and gums pounding across the thin air. Above them was the constellation Orion. Just a little sliver of the moon cast an eerie luminescent glow over my pasture. In that moment, I could hear all the music of the universe and feel what Advent was all about. I have never given up on that moment.


So my weekend reflective question for readers of this blog is: "How do you hear God through the noise of this season?" I'd love to hear your stories.