Finding God in the wait of advent, admist the chaos of the commerical christmas is a particular task. I came across the Augustinian notion of God in memory a few weeks back and and been reflecting on this for a while. Paula Fredrikson writes on Augustines take on God and Memory that “memory is nesscessary not simply for recollection, but also for cognition and persception. It is through the exercise of his or her memory that the individual – time bound, imperfect, mortal – is enabled to know and to recogize both him/herself and most especially Truth….. Put simply memory is the site of our illumination. Memory is our bridge to the world outside ourselves, to ourselves, and to God.”
In the wait of advent even in my most disciplined moments christmas memories (time bound, imperfect, mortal) creep in. To borrow from the traditional christain language I wonder if this is the devil invading the space I seek to encounter God. So is the spiritual task in the wait of advent to exercise the memory of Truth, and exorcise the memory of the time bound, imperfect, and mortal, redeeming these memories and preparing us to experience the renewal that the new birth of christ brings.Fist of Fury (aka Chinese Connection) download