A time of Advent reflection
Our LORD and Ruler, your name is wonderful everywhere on earth!
I often think of the heavens your hands have made,
And of the moon and stars you put in place.
Then I ask, “Why do you care about us humans?
Why are you concerned for us weaklings?”
Psalm 8: 1, 3-4
Reflect on the word ME for a moment.
Each morning as I get ready for the day I look into my mirror and see myself – and wonder. What did I look like the moment I was born? Did my mother smile to see me or were there other emotions?
I’ve heard words such as: “God loves you”, “God cares for you” through my growing years.
Really??
Reflected in the mirror I see times when I looked obnoxious, hurtful, manipulative, stubborn and the words go on. At other times I see a caring, happy, compassionate and sometimes sorrowful face. Who am I? Which of these faces is the real me?
The phone rings. Someone wants to connect with me. I move away from the mirror and pick up the phone. I wonder which “ME” is connecting with the caller.
Outside my window a king parrot looks at me for seed. The first spring daffodils sway in the wind. The rhythms of the day never change. It tells me that the rhythms of my life do not change and that all the “faces” in my mirror blend to make ME.
Thank you for making me who I am and loving me warts and all, God.
© Ranjini Wickramaratne-Rebera
For a number of years, our dear friend Ranjini Rebera wrote Biblical reflections for the use of Gungahlin Uniting Church and others, usually for Advent and Lent. We were privileged to receive these, as Ranjini had a working history of writing and teaching on a global stage. Each time she completed the considerable work on one of these studies for us she would announce firmly, ‘That’s it. That is the last one I’m writing. No more. End of story!’ But as Advent or Lent came around again she would start hinting that she’d had an idea for a reflection – and she would write another one.
When she completed a Reflection for Lent 2021, we were not to know that this really was the last one. Ranjini died on 13 October 2021. We miss her intellect, her leadership, her vivid personality, her artistic gifts, her deep faith and her pastoral heart. We have lost some colour from our world.
The Gungahlin Uniting Church Worship Team, where Ranjini served for several years, offers Ranjini’s study material, first produced in 2015, as we give thanks for her life shared among us.