Dear friends –
One of the hard and beautiful things about faith is that the Spirit arrives unexpectedly. It’s beautiful when we experience something that moves us to the core and assures us of the promises of God in ways we might not previously have understood. It’s hard when we are longing for the Spirit to grant us such inspiration and peace, and there doesn’t seem to be an answer. Advent, this liminal in-between time, embraces both of these aspects of God: Jesus has already arrived, and we live into the promises given by the prophets of peace, love, and justice; Jesus is yet to arrive, because we look toward that day when peace, love, and justice come to fruition not in glimpses but as our full reality.
The Spirit arrives like that thief in the night – unexpectedly, without warning. The opening of the Advent devotional for this year reflects on this aspect of God. And also, God is the builder of our lives, and Advent is a time of invitation. In this spirit, the poet Sarah Are reflects, “Tear down the door to my house./Crawl through the window./Slip through the attic fan./Dance in the security light./Scream through the letterbox until I hear you again./For this is your house./You built it./You belong here./I am begging you,/Break back in.” My prayer for you this Advent along with all of those who dream, is that you would more fully experience God’s presence, that in the midst of pandemic and these lonely and dark days the light of Christ would continue to shine in your heart and move you to live into new ways to share that light with others. May we all grow in this time, learning, hoping, and sharing in love.
Advent blessings,
Pastor Jess
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