Advent is a season of the church year that offers a counterbalance to the swirl of activity around us. The messages that come to us through media and our own pace say there is always an expectation of more shopping, partying, celebrations, and preparing. At least in my circle of Christian friends a good part of the conversation is, "Have you started cooking yet, have you started shopping, are you done wrapping yet?" The other side of our conversation is the Advent the message of encouragement. We are encouraged to nurture and bring forth the goodness inside of each of our lives because God believes in humankind. God believes in humankind so deeply that God asks us to look to the heavens to see the wonders of the changes God brings about. God asks us to look into the eyes of an infant, and therefore into the eyes of our own being, to see the goodness God gives us. Encouragement comes from God believing that inside each human being is a goodness to be called forth, the sacred nature of God living in our lives, and a center in which we can discover God's presence.

When the pull of expectation through preparation pulls us in the hurried direction, Advent is the counterweight encouraging us to look around and look within for God's presence with us.

When President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, many called it an aspirational prize and not a prize of achievement. The aspiration pointed to the hope for what he might achieve among conflicted neighbors and global relationships.

However, thus far President Obama has maintained that there is a way forward no matter how ridgid the sides may be. He has taken this stance with the US Congress, in diplomacy, and in relationships among people who disagree.

As a believer that Jesus Christ showed another way to live that centered on God's goodness rather than conflict, I believe that a peacemaker is one who calls us to a standard of behavior that respects the dignity of everyone. I believe a peacemaker is thoroughly practical and realistic about divisions and dynamics for discontent and still continues to be one who models a standard of behavior to find a way forward. A peacemaker looks for another way to frame the issue and solve the problem. A peacemaker believes 'there is more than one way to slice a loaf of bread.'

A peacemaker may be prominent in the world community or known only to the members of one's home community.

Perhaps we can consider President Obama's Nobel Prize as a verb, the action of continually creating, finding, naming the way toward peace, rather than a noun, a place or a thing to be achieved.

Last night on PBS, the opening program of Ken Burn's documentary on our National Parks featured the importance of John Muir. Muir, a naturalist, geologist, mountain man, and a man of faith wrote with a compelling and unique perspective about the significance of natural beauty. For Muir the meaning of the natural landscape moved beyond perserving and appreciating beauty. Nature was the place where human beings could locate themselves as creatures part of creation, smaller than God. At the same time human beings can observe God's life in the horizon and feel God's life within our hearts. Muir brought science and faith into one realm where God could be both creator and lover.

Practical Christians locate themselves within creation belonging to the grandeur God creates and feeling that grandeur within our hearts.

Hello

Hello, and welcome to Practically Christian, a weekly reflection on faith, life, and the experience of Christ in our daily lives. The issues will range from faith at work to Christian practices to recent events. Join the community of fellowship as we bring the meaning of Jesus' life into our lives.

This past week was the anniversary of the only escape from Alcatraz. Three men dug, tunnelled, and emerged form the isolation of the prison walls. If they ever reached land through the frigid waters is not known. For some their feat is admired. For some a mystery to be solved.

Any prison is a formittable barrier. It is a metaphor for barriers we may construct in our lives. What are the practical tools of Christian faith that we use break down our barriers. Reflect on these four that we find when we are members of the church community: studying scripture together, learning from experience together, praying together, and, serving together.