As I write this on December 10, the church is in waiting. It is the Advent season. Week by week the candles around the Advent wreath are lit to mark the march of time, bearing witness to the hard lesson that good things in life are worth waiting for in order to value their goodness. The oppressive surge of activity in this October/ November/December buying season clobbers our sense of perspective, our deeper call to wait for Jesus with humble expectation. One of the graces of contemplative prayer, the practice of silence in solitude and community, is a growing quiet within, a sacred space within the soul that is supernaturally blessed by God with virtues like patience, peacefulness, compassion, hopefulness.

You will hear the word "contemplation" over and over in my preaching and writing. This is because contemplative spirituality seems to me to be the antidote to the noise, cynicism, and divisions in our church and world. Contemplation is not withdrawal, avoidance or escape from life’s demands. Contemplative spirituality takes seriously the rhythm of prayer and action modeled by Jesus. Over and over in the gospels Jesus went away for a time of prayer and renewal. He sought solitude. In those experiences he was buoyed by God’s love. He was empowered to love God’s people. Interestingly, Jesus was led in such experiences to seek out those in his world that were in need of basic sustenance for daily bread, those victimized by cultural bigotry such as poor women, lepers and other sick persons. The "least of these" were the focus of his proclamation and action, that visionary world of prayer and action he called the Kingdom of God.

What, ultimately, is the life changing purpose of prayer if we take Jesus’ example seriously? It is to fulfill the Great Commandment: "to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves." Contemplative prayer leads to loving action, a spilling over of grace from within that seeks the very best for every other person, as it is stated in the Baptismal Covenant, "respecting the dignity of every human being." When your clergy and other teachers call you to contemplative spirituality as a way of life, we are seriously uncertain which aspect of Jesus’ life is most important to accentuate, prayer or action, for they are one piece, one way of life.

I am delighted to announce that The Rev. Bob Lively will be coming on staff at St. Matthew’s to study, write and teach on our campus. Dr. Lively is a long-time practitioner of contemplative prayer. If you have enjoyed his bi-weekly articles in the Austin American-Statesman in Saturday’s religion section, you are enjoying a gifted writer and seeing the fruits of contemplative spirituality. Elsewhere in this edition of The Word you will find an article prepared by Bob detailing the facts of the class he will teach beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 9, in Huffman Hall. Bob and I have discussed his work at St. Matthew’s in terms of a sabbatical. He has worked non-stop for over 30 years in active ministry. He has started a soup kitchen, pastored a church, directed a counseling center and worked as a full time teacher and counselor. His roles at St. Matthew’s will be quite simple. He will study, pray, write and teach. He will not be doing any pastoral counseling and will not serve in the worship, pastoral care or administration of the church. His focus will be to practice and teach contemplative spirituality on our campus. We will be blessed by Bob’s presence. Welcome, aboard, Bob Lively!

On Sunday, January 23, Father Thomas Keating, one of the leading proponents of contemplative prayer in the world today, will be teaching on campus at St. Matthew’s. Father Keating teaches centering prayer, a way of finding silence for 20-40 minutes a day. His work stimulated the formation of an ecumenical group called Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., which has led to the formation of contemplative "centering" prayer groups all over the world. We are expecting a crowd of over 750 persons that afternoon in the sanctuary, come early for the Taize music in order to make sure you find a seat.

The Holy Spirit is leading our parish to deeper understandings of prayer and action. We live in a world that demands we be people focused on division, competition and self-righteousness. What if there was another way to get along in the world? One of the fruits of contemplation is focus and attention. Do you want to focus your attention on commitment to Christ and his way of praying and loving the world? Our own Keith Miller has been praying about ways to deepen our spiritual lives in the church. Keith is passionate about learning how to love as Jesus loves. Sometimes I think we have known Keith so well and for so long that we forget he is deemed by many to be one of the leading spiritual writers and thinkers in the world. That’s true!

Recently, friends of his around the country have urged Keith to re-write and re-publish his 1970’s best seller, Edge of Adventure, originally co-authored with Bruce Larson and published by Word Books in Waco. The interest in this book is focused on the fact that the insights of the book remain fresh and powerful. The book and the small group resources designed to be used with it are part of a small group movement in the church, gathering groups of people together to build warm, intimate communities that make weekly commitments to pray; learning to love and serve the world in Christ’s name. The Vestry of St. Matthew’s agreed to support Keith in his endeavor to establish Edge of Adventure groups in the Episcopal Church. He is working with his wife, Andrea, and Paul Williams of this parish to begin a "pilot program" of Edge of Adventure groups here at St. Matthew’s and in other parishes and dioceses around the Episcopal Church. If you would be interested in participating in a small group in 2005 to grow in your commitment to Christ, please feel free to let me, Keith, Andrea or Paul know. I am so excited about this new development in the life of our parish!

Finally, our Annual Meeting is January 9, beginning at 5:15 p.m. with a chili supper for the whole family. I consider the Annual Meeting something on the order of a "command performance" for members. It is the one time that we gather per year for business purposes. Please make every effort to attend.

Have a wonderful and blessed New Year.

Love, Merrill