DAY 12: Ponder the Mystery: A Contemplative Advent Journey

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Luke 1:46-47

PONDER: Every soul searches for something to anchor it in this world, whether it is family, community, nature, faith practices, or any other meaningful connection, to create a sense of belonging, identity, or purpose. As you turn that connection toward God, let it enlarge your spirit, expand your heart, and magnify your soul with a divine dimension and perspective on life.

RESPOND: Spend the first minutes of quiet focusing on your breathing, the natural expansion of life and lungs receiving the Divine breath of God first breathed into humanity at the beginning of time. As you inhale, imagine the breath expanding within you, filling every cell, delivering life-giving oxygen through veins and arteries, feeding muscles, organs, bone and marrow.  And exhale all that is not needed to create room for the Divine presence dwelling within.

As you consider your life in recent days, what has been your point of focus? To what extent have you allowed God to guide and be present, even as you have tended to the details of daily life. Is there a possibility of clearing more space to expand or magnify your life as a hospitable dwelling place for the Christ child? Knowing your life, just as it is, is the dwelling place of God, offer your honest, vulnerable spirit to the grace found in Divine love. Your life is holy ground simply because God is in this place.

A BLESSING: May the peace of God come to you in the center of all that fills your life today. May that peaceful presence expand your heart, mind, and soul with generous helpings of strength and grace. Amen.