The eleven28 Advent Podcast is brought to you in partnership with Missio Alliance.
The fourth week of Advent: Disruptive Love
I am the mother of three kids but was only pregnant one advent season. Love was disruptive. I couldn’t sleep through the night because my back ached and I had to go to the bathroom every two hours. I couldn’t tie my shoes because my belly was in the way. Love created the child growing in my body and my love for that child were both disorderly! When Mary joins Elizabeth to marvel together at the disrupting that God had done in both of their lives, Mary sings a song of all the ways that God’s love will continue to disrupt, unsettle, and reorganize the world.
Luke 1:46b-55
1:46b “My soul magnifies the Lord,
1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
1:48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
1:50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
1:51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
1:52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
1:55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
All of this disruption is physical! It has bodily consequences. Our practice today is a body prayer. You are invited to be in a space where you can move as much as you are comfortable with. It might be even more meaningful to practice this one outside, barefoot.
Stand up. Plant both feet firmly on the ground, hip width apart. Let your arms fall comfortably by your side. Draw your spine up straight and close your eyes.
Imagine roots growing down from your heels into the ground.
Feel those roots draw love up into your body.
Inhale, draw love up into your body.
Exhale, give love back to the ground.
Inhale, draw love up into your body.
Exhale, give love back to the ground.
Place your hands over yoru heart. Tune your breath in to match your heart’s rhythm. Imagine the blood moving through your body as love itself.
Place your hands on your gut. Feel your lungs expand and deflate with each breath. Imagine love breathing through you.
Bend forward at the waist as far as it comfortable for you. Let your arms hang down loosely. Gently sway your torso from your waist and let your arms swing softly. Feel the flexibility of your spine as love moving with you.
Slowly roll your torso up and spread your arms as high and wide as you can manage. Step your feet wider. Take up as much space as you can. Feel love’s bigness as your chest expands.
Come back to a more natural stance, feet hip width apart, arms loose at your sides. Open your eyes.
Name three things you see around you. Name them as love and with love.
Name three things you hear around you. Name them as love and with love.
Name three things you smell around you. Name them as love and with love.
Name three things you taste around you. Name them as love and with love.
Name three things you feel on your skin. Name them as love and with love.
Inhale, draw love up into your body.
Exhale, give love back to the ground.
Inhale, draw love up into your body.
Exhale, give love back to the ground.
May the disruptive love of God halt your scurrying this week to realize that everywhere you look is God’s love in action.
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