Advent

If you've been following the entertainment news... you know that there is a new movie out called 2012. It's a "end of the world" movie which is guaranteed to have geologists everywhere rolling in the aisles hysterical with laughter. It's a movie that is not... shall we say... grounded in scientific reality. At least not from the geological perspective (as a geologist... I can say that!)... It does play on the growing fascination with the year 2012 and the date of Dec 21, 2012. According to the Mayan calendar, this date marks the end of a chronological cycle (about 26,000 years long). So, it's sort of like the year 2000 was for us... just the end of a cycle of time and the beginning of another...

Mind you, there are others who believe that this date will mark a transformation in the consciousness of humanity, that it will be the end of our lives as we know them... the beginning of a new ear of enlightenment. Quite possibly. If you read Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Eckhardt Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch, Don Miguel Ruiz, or any of a variety of authors, you will find the stirrings of this new consciousness. Interestingly, all of them recommend/demand that individuals practice meditation or contemplation. This is a practice which we, in the Catholic Church, have heard much about, but which we generally ignore. We'd much rather be out there "doing" something, whether it's doing an activity or doing a prayer. Much more of a challenge for us to just "be" in the silence and stillness... to quiet our minds and connect with that deeper source.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel today (Lk 21:25-28, 34-36) that there will be much upheaval, but not to get caught up in it. We are called to be grounded in our sure knowledge of who we are as children of the divine... And that's not just a head knowledge... that is a heart knowledge... a gut knowledge. And it comes from connecting with the source... "Be still and know that I am God..." (Ps 46:10) has much wisdom for us today... Stop with the wordy prayers... get to the heart and be still... listen for that quiet, still, small whisper... not your thoughts about it... but listen to the silence... Who knows what you might hear...