According to a Pew Research Study published in December of 2023 56% of “Spiritual but not Religious” people “feel a deep sense about the universe monthly.” And I would bet that this past week that jumped up greatly.
Interestingly, both are calling us to “Be Ready” but in very different ways. The world revs us up to almost a frantic pace of gift-buying, cleaning, baking, and socializing. The church season of Advent calls us to reflection, recollection and repentance. The world empties you out of energy, patience, and money but the seasons (when we can observe it) fills us up with light - an ordered soul.
Sundays are special. For as long as I can remember, Sunday morning has been the highlight of my week. Now, maybe it was the box of doughnuts that Mrs. Rieman brought to Sunday School Hour. That didn’t hurt, but even in my younger years I found Sunday mornings to be a time that was special because I experienced God in a different way and I got to see people I really considered to be family.
The Apostle Peter is no masochist. He does not say that the Christian should go out looking for suffering, but that as the beloved of God we should not be surprised when it comes. Our world is fallen (the effects of the first sin) and - because of that - suffering is a reality of life.
The strange thing about being middle-aged is that you are old enough to remember a generation that has vanished; see a generation before you rising to old age; see your own generation building families and businesses; and see a generation just being born.
Chapter 3 is complicated. St. Peter assumes the headship that St. Paul writes of in 1 Cor 11:3; Eph. 5:22; Col 3:18. Submission of wives to their husbands is an inherent good for all Christians. St. Peter argues that it brings about virtue in the wife as an adornment in place of vanity (Pt. 3:1-4). A “gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Pt. 4:4). This contrasts greatly with what some have pushed in our own day for many years now - that man and wife in marriages are interchangeable.
