Advent Reflections

Love in Action
by Hope Brashar

December 9: AM Psalm 26, 28; PM Psalm 36, 39; Isaiah 5:13-17, 24-25; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28; Luke 21:29-38

My mom is a practical kind of person: a sandal wearing, bread making, glue-it-back-together embodiment of love in action. Once when I was particularly overwhelmed, reciting a list of urgent things I felt I had to do, my mom gave me this advice:

Take care of the living things. Everything else will be there later.

And this is exactly what we are encouraged to do in today’s reading from Thessalonians 5: “…give courage to those who are apprehensive, care for the weak and be patient with everyone. Make sure that people do not try to take revenge; you must think of what is best for each other and for the community.”

Take care of the living things. This could be seen as an endless list. Instead, Paul presents it as a way of life. This is what we do: we care for those around us. We care for our community. Psalm 36:9 reminds us of the revealing presence of God: “…by [his] light we see light.” In the presence of Jesus, we see how to live out this kind of care for all living things.