Advent is upon us

Dear friends, 

Advent is upon us. And, if I may make a confession among friends, it is my favorite season of the church year. 

It is a season of anticipatory hope that is grounded in the trials and tribulations of our lived reality. It does not shy away from naming where our common life falls short of the Glory of God, and for that I am grateful. It is, at its heart, countercultural. For some, it is a season of simply readying for Christmas. But, not for us. For us, Advent is more, communicating a message of ultimate importance. Even as the world works itself into a commercial frenzy and the Christmas music begins to insist that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” Advent whispers, Christ is nigh.

I think that’s why I like Advent. It doesn’t mess around. It warns, “Beware, keep awake,” while sending the startling figure of John the Baptist to make sure we hear it. Advent begins in the dark. Tis the Season of taking inventory of our lives and our world – meeting head-on those things we’d rather not see at all and knowing in our bones that things were not meant to be this way. All before we catch a glimpse of that seemingly far-off and unlikely light of the Incarnation. 

Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding; “Christ is nigh,” it seems to say, 
“Cast away the works of darkness, O ye children of the day.” 
Wakened by the solemn warning Let the earthbound soul arise; 
Christ, our Sun, all ill dispelling, Shines upon the morning skies. 

Blessed Advent,

Crystal+