A December message from our Pastor

Dear friends,

Christmas is coming, and all around, preparations are being made. In church, we’re preparing, too – for Jesus to come – into our world, into our lives and hearts. Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, is the church’s season of preparing. In the church, we’ve come to understand that Christmas is a spiritual event and that to prepare ourselves we have to take me for our spirits. It’s the hardest, but most important thing of all.

You don’t see much about advent outside the church. It’s not something the marketing folks have taken hold of. Advent is the mystical season of “almost – but not quite yet.” We wonder together about God’s choice to come among us a human baby, born to a poor, refugee family. Advent is also a season when we think about the time when God will come among us again, to bring justice and mercy and peace to our world.

We have advent resources for families to help children understand this holy season – pick them up in the Sunday School area, or call the office. For adults, Sarah is preparing an on-line community for reflection, so look for that announcement in the enews. If you’d like a book with brief reflections, I suggest “Preparing for Christmas” by Richard Rohr and “Sister Wendy on the Art of Christmas” – a series of reflections on 14 works of art.

How do you make spiritual preparations during this season? How do you listen for the voice of God in the busyness? What will you do to be ready for Emmanuel, “God-with-us”?

In Christ