Advent Word Global Advent Calendar 2015!

Advent Word is a really great Global Advent Calendar project! I love it!

It’s run by the Anglican Communion and the brothers of The Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE), based in Boston, USA. The brothers write a daily meditation on an Advent theme – with a photo – which they post to social media, and we respond with an image of our own and the hashtag #AdventWord plus the hashtag for the appropriate theme for the day…. it works best on Instagram, and shared to Facebook, partly because the Instagram filters are so good, and make the photos look really special!

This project was launched last year in Advent 2014, and I loved it! Now this year, the Diocese of Taiwan has been helping out a bit, and our good friend at St. James’ Church, Taichung, Jerry Liang has kindly translated all the daily meditations into Mandarin Chinese, and these are now posted on the Advent Word website each day along with other languages too ~ check it all out here!

My humble contributions so far (without the Instagram filters of course!), as follows:

Day 1: #Wake Up #覺醒 Advent Sunday, November 29

‘Look clearly and honestly at your life – and take action. Now. For now is the time to waken out of sleep. That is the watchman’s trumpet call – the clarion call of Advent. Now is the time for you – a choice to be made, a decision to be taken’.

應誠實看待自己的生命；把它看清楚，並且採取行動。現在就是你我應該覺醒的時候，那守護者的號角，降臨節的清澈喇叭聲，已經響起。就在這一刻，你（我）必須下定決心，做出抉擇。

Above photo taken in the park opposite St. Peter’s Church, Chiayi last weekend!

Day 2: #Proclaim #宣告 Monday November 30

‘John boldly asserts that Christ—the very Word of God–is the light and life of all people. In our personal lives, seeing truth, speaking truth as best we can, is essential to the dawn of light and life’.

施洗約翰勇敢地宣告，基督是上帝的道，世人的生命之光。在你我一生中，誰能「眼見真理、口說真道」，那人就能點燃生命之光，好比破曉晨曦帶來光明一般.

Above photo also taken in the park opposite St. Peter’s Church, Chiayi last weekend!

Day 3: #Give #給予 Tuesday December 1

‘What is your treasure, what is it you value most and feel you have to have to live? Maybe it is money, maybe it is time, maybe it is knowledge, maybe it is love that needs to be squandered on those who have none, who lack hope and need help. Are you being challenged at this time to give all that you have?’

你的財寶是什麼？什麼是你最看重，深感生活中不可或缺的東西？是金錢？時間？或是知識？愛心？也許應當將你某些最愛，分給那些兩手空空，希望渺茫，亟需幫助的人。此刻，你是否接受挑戰，將你所有，濟助他人?

Mrs. Grace Chien 簡師母 lights the first Advent Candle at St.Peter’s Church, ‪Chiayi‬‬ on ‪Advent Sunday‬ 2015. She and Bishop John C.T. Chien 簡啟聰主教 [1940-2013] have given their whole lives in faithful Christian service. An amazing witness! ‪Thanks be to God‬!

Day 4: #Forgive #寬恕 Wednesday December 2

‘This is the promise of God: not that he will make life simpler but that God will save us, and salve us and heal us and forgive us from all that is broken and diseased in us’.

寬恕是神的應許，其意義，不在於簡化生命，讓生命變得異常容易；而是要我們真心領會，即使身陷全然破碎的困境，我們仍有上帝的拯救、醫治、和寬恕。

God forgive us for our obsession with convenience and ‘instantness’, help us this ‪‎Advent‬ to patiently wait for your coming….

Day 5: #Repent #悔改 Thursday December 3

‘In Advent, we are called to more clearly engage the subject of God’s judgment; we are challenged to realize that we have sinned and are in need of God’s forgiveness. God’s judgment is his love and his truth. If we would hook into God’s love, we must walk through the door of repentance and forgiveness’.

降臨節期間，上帝呼召我們更清楚祂公義審判的課題；祂要我們理解，人犯了罪，需要祂的寬恕。上帝的審判，換言之，就是祂的愛和真理。若要真正抓住上帝的愛，我們必須穿過「悔改與寬恕」之門。

Above photo was taken at the chapel at the diocesan office in Taipei ~ the wood carving was done by Bishop Lai himself!

Day 6: #Worship #崇拜 Friday December 4

‘In this season, we not only contemplate, but we worship the One who came, but who is still here. The One who is to come, but who is here already. Time present, time past, time future—three layers of time, bound magically together, bound so deliciously together in the vision of Christ’.

這段期間，我們除了努力思索，更要用心崇拜，那「早已來臨，當下猶在；既已臨在，還會再來」的主。時光的三個層面—-現在、過去、未來，在基督的異象中，神奇地綁在一塊兒，美妙地結合在一起。