Beginning the Advent Journey

Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I've got—Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation. God's works are so great, worth a lifetime of study—endless enjoyment!
Splendor and beauty mark God's craft; whose generosity never gives out, whose miracles are God's memorial—this God of Grace, this God of Love.
(Psalm 111, from The Message)

It feels like the work of the Holy Spirit, that I am starting this Advent Journey, this walk to the Bethlehem manger, with a purple band encircling my right wrist. It was given to my colleagues and me when we attended a clergy retreat earlier this month.  The band is from A Complaint Free World.  The purpose is to help one stop complaining about things and instead act to change what one doesn't like.  We have been challenged to wear the band for 90 days. 90 days of no complaining! None!

This band has been very effective. Every time I have begun to complain about something, my left hand has instinctively reached for the band on my right wrist, and my mouth has closed shut! It has become a Pavlovian response! And my complaining quotient has drastically reduced.

Which feels like a good way to begin Advent, this four week journey of preparing ourselves and our world to welcome Christ into our world once again.  By reducing my complaining and increasing my praising, my heart feels like it is making room as I look for God's gift of love to be born in my heart once again.