Advent Interruptions

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Advent is a proverbial time of waiting  and listening in the darkness for the birth of the Christ Child within our own hearts. However, the biggest stumbling block to truly listening is our self-important business.
Henri Nouwen S.J., Jesuit author and university prof,  complained to God about all the students who came to his office, interrupting his writing of an important book. God’s answer?
“I just gave you that book to write to keep you busy in between appointments; your real work is all those interruptions.”

No matter what our occupation, we tend to think that our work, our agenda is important. It is almost in our nature to let ambition and drive push other people to the fringes of our awareness while we toil in an isolated bubble of self-importance. There are many methods that can shake us out of this selfish obsession but for me as a mother, it was my children.                                continue reading

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