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It’s here! It’s here! The season of advent is upon us. Often advent is described as a time of waiting. We wait for the coming of Christ. Our Scripture for this week invites us instead to take a more active approach. Mark 13:24-37 charges us with being alert! Be aware!

What are the ways in which God’s presence is being made known to us in this season and behind? Are we watching? Are we listening? Are we open to the ways God is meeting us in the world?

The most familiar sayings and stories often prove to be difficult to find the full depth of their meaning because, as some may know, familiarity breeds contempt. "Extensive knowledge of or close association with someone or something leads to a loss of respect for them or it." (Oxford Dictionary). Though I will never have actual contempt for the word of God, I have heard or read the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats since childhood, which is this Sunday's Bible reading from Matthew 15:31-46.

How much of a risk taker are you? If your measure of risk taking were calculated on something like a 10-point Richter type scale where would you fall? Would you say that you are on the lower end of risk taking, producing more of a little rumble between 1 to 3 or in the moderate section where your risk taking might cause a definite unsettling quake between 4 and 6? Are you a go all out risk taker, causing an earth shattering and potentially devastating reaction from those around you between 7 and 10?

How are you regarding patience and focus? Are you able to be patient and stay focused on a major life’s goal or dream that you set out to achieve? Has your desire to see a dream or goal completed quickly ever become an obstacle, especially when it comes to persevering through some difficult hardships that you had to fight through? Have you ever been greatly distracted on your way to attaining your dream or goal because it took longer to realize than you thought it should and you did not have enough patience and single-mindedness to stay with it until it was accomplished?

Sunday is All Saints Day. A saint is defined as "a person who is officially recognized by the Christian church as being very holy because of the way he or she lived: a person who is very good, kind, or patient."(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) We may know of someone who exemplifies the qualities of a saint as defined here. However, this definition is not the final word on what a saintly person should be.

When I was in seminary, one of the classes that was mandatory for all masters of divinity students was Christian Moral Theology. While I believe this is a crucial thing to explore and study, at times I got frustrated with the class and how sterilized the "theories" seemed, so far from the realities of actual human beings. I used to tease that watching The Good Place on Netflix (a comedy series originally aired on NBC) and discussing the show with peers should count as an alternative to the class.

Who owns the world we live in? We know that we are stewards of God’s creation. So, if God placed us over it as its caretakers, how do we manage God’s creation when others, who do not recognize God as the owner of all creation, regularly misuse and abuse it? If fellow stewards, who wish to gain power over other stewards by manipulating the words of those who are trying do the best job they can as caretakers, what are we to say or do to counter act their evil schemes?

My favorite Instagram account is one that tells me to stop mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. It is called the Nap Ministry. The Nap Ministry focuses on liberating practices of rest. In a culture of constant moving and shaking, of "work hard, play hard," the Nap Ministry reminds me that I worship a God who rests.

Normally, when people read a story about good and evil they seek to assign blame to those who are the evil characters by pointing out their various evil deeds, words, and even the types of people who are in the group that are described as the bad ones.

Last year, I fell in love with geocaching. Have you ever been geocaching? All over the world, people have hidden tiny containers. These little containers (think film canisters, tiny boxes, and small baggies) usually contain a paper log of everyone who's found the geocache, and sometimes, special treasures. If you download the geocaching app on your phone, it helps you in your quest: providing you with coordinates and clues as you look for these elusive items.