Tag Archives: kelley wheat-rivers

Stop. Look. Listen.

by Advent 2011 Guest Writer

shining flowers in the sunlight

Psalms 24, 29, 8, 84
Isaiah 42:1-12
John 3:16-21
Ephesians 6:10-20

Take heed of the old adage for crossing the street: “Stop. Look. Listen.” Three simple directions that can assuredly help you see the glory that is around you! Finding what stirs your soul and reconnects you to your sacred center is as individual as a fingerprint. The Scriptures for this day in the advent season are dripping with awe and longing for the beauty and promises of God. What fills your spirit to its brim? What makes you want to sing out joyfully with a huge grin on your face? Imagine it and then send out your praises to the Divine! Share beauty, glory, and gladness in this sparkly season of Christmas! A season that reminds us that God is with us. Advent represents God’s light entering into our darkened world. We should smile and allow that light to fill our days, bless our interactions with others and spread warmth to all we encounter.

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Kelley Wheat-Rivers earned her masters degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Claremont School of Theology. She is now a Chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator at Liberty Hospice and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, both in Wilmington, NC.

Contemplation

by Advent 2011 Guest Writer

mountain path, shady and greenPsalms 119:1-24
Psalms 12, 13, 14
Isaiah 2:1-11
Luke 20:19-26

Finding a path you believe God wants you to walk on can be a difficult endeavor, relying on countless factors. In our world of constant movement, it behooves us to take moments of stillness to consider both our journey and our destination. In the Scriptures for today, paths of righteousness and wickedness are described fitting the time in which they were written. Consider, what would make a path of righteousness or a path of wickedness for you in this time? Sometimes we can get swept up in our goals that we don’t realize the beauty of the passage or we try to force our way ahead like the teachers of the law in Luke, searching for a particular goal rather than allowing a more loving path to guide their way. Take time to imagine your path and meditate deeply on the many steps along the journey. What will they look like? How might you feel at each step? What if you get turned around, how might you learn from that experience and what will follow it? Consider the photo and take time to imagine what each small step on the way represents for you as well as what lies beyond the bend…

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Kelley Wheat-Rivers earned her masters degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Claremont School of Theology. She is now a Chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator at Liberty Hospice and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, both in Wilmington, NC.