Listening into Advent
A Day of Quiet

By Mary Pandiani
Executive Director
Selah Center

Blessing in the Chaos

To all that is chaotic

in you,
let there come silence.

Let there be
a calming
of the clamoring,
a stilling
of the voices that
have laid their claim
on you,
that have made their
home in you,

that go with you
even to the
holy places
but will not
let you rest,
will not let you
hear your life
with wholeness
or feel the grace
that fashioned you.

Let what distracts you
cease.
Let what divides you
cease.
Let there come an end
to what diminishes
and demeans,
and let depart
all that keeps you
in its cage.

Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath
the chaos,
where you find
the peace
you did not think
possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.

By Jan Richardson,
Painted Prayer Book
.com

“Christmas, already?!!” Do you hear the impatience, the lack of wonder in the season, the when-will-it-be-over attitude? It’s why I need this blessing for all that is chaotic in my life. With this week, we start Advent. It’s a time to lead us gently into Christmas. To enter into my desired place of appreciating the birth of Jesus the Christ, I need a calming before the storm. And more, I need to cultivate spaciousness that allows God to open my heart in and through this season.

Selah begins the season with a Quiet Day today. It’s an opportunity to listen to the wonder and pregnant moments that this season can bring. In the quietness, we slow down long enough to “see what shimmers within the storm.” Join us if you can.

May this Advent, a time of waiting, be filled with sweet surprises that breathe new life into you. As fresh expressions of this season awaken in you, remember the birth of a human baby that reminds us of God’s tender and abiding love. Holy Advent, Merry Christmas.

Listening into Advent

A Quiet Day to Prepare Our Hearts for the Season

November 28 @ 9:30 am – 2:30 pm PST FREE on ZOOM

The value of intentionally approaching the season with a prayerful heart lays a foundation for encountering God in the mystery of the birth of God’s son, Jesus Christ.

Rather than falling prey to the frenzied expectations of gift giving and holiday gatherings that lose the meaning of Christmas, take this day to sit before the Holy One in quietness and rest. Whether in centering prayer or journaling or any combination of spiritual practices, the time spent with God opens you up to enter into the season with a centered heart.

Starting with a community who agrees to accompany one another on this quiet day, you’ll be given some tools to use as you want. Then for four hours, you can stay on Zoom in the silent presence of others or rejoin us for the closing time. We will end our time together by sharing how we intend to move into the Advent season