#AdventWord #Alert #儆醒

在復臨節，我們都懷有身孕。如同瑪麗亞一樣，我們都是上帝的新婦。因著她勇敢的例子，我們也要說:「情願照祢的話成就在我身上！」說了這話，我們會看到在我們身上所孕育的事物，我們活著並期待生產的陣痛。我們應當耐心，愉悅並儆醒，因為按照上帝的時間這些就會發生。我們都被稱為上帝的信使，而且在這季節我們要預備好生產生命，光以及上帝的愛。

In Advent, we are all pregnant. Like Mary, we, too, have been wooed by God. And, moved by her courageous example, we also say, “be it unto me according to your word.” And having spoken those words, we observe with wonder the gestation happening within us, we live in expectation of the birth pangs. We must be patient, resilient, and stay alert, for it will happen in God’s time. We are all called to be God bearers and in this season we are being readied to give birth to the life, light, and love of God.

In 875, violent attacks by marauding Vikings forced the monks of Lindisfarne to flee for their lives, and their priory was abandoned.  In the 1120’s, monks from Durham Cathedral re-founded a Benedictine Priory on Holy Island, which flourished until 1537 when it was closed down by Henry VIII.  Not long after the dissolution of the priory, in the 1550’s, Lindisfarne Castle (see above photo) was built to protect the harbour against invasion from Scotland.  Over the centuries, the people of Holy Island have long been on alert against hostile attack, and also against the incoming tides which cut the island off from the mainland for six hours twice a day, and can leave travelers – and boats – stuck in the sands.  The old posts of the jetty stand out in the photo, remnants of Lindisfarne’s 19th century past, where ships would load the lime from the nearby lime kilns, to be taken to Dundee.