Pregnant with peace
From the moment we learned I was pregnant, the baby we longed for was continually on my mind. What would it look like? What kind of personality would it have? How would this baby change our life? I was truly “expecting.” Expectant waiting with our baby in mind transformed not just me and my husband,…
‘What’s next, God?’
Advent means arrival. During Advent we contemplate and celebrate the arrival of our Messiah. However, the purpose of Advent for Spirit-filled followers of Christ is not to pretend to long for the coming of Christ, whose presence we are already intimately familiar with. For us, Advent is an opportunity to cultivate a deeper longing for…
Significant tidings
What are the significant stories in this issue? When I asked this question in the office, the answer came back: “They’re all significant.” This, our Christmas issue, is chock-full of stories to pay attention to—with our prayers and actions. Two international stories stand out—some good news and some heart-breaking news. Our Anabaptist sisters and brothers…
Which Jesus are you waiting for?
Advent, according to one definition, is “the arrival of a notable person, thing or event.” Yet along the way, we’ve come to associate Advent not with arrival, but with waiting. In our homes, Advent is a time of preparation. We shop for presents, hang wreaths, display cherished nativity scenes and decorate trees. We bake cookies,…
A walk in the dark
In the northern hemisphere, Advent comes to us in the darkest time of the year. Christmas is advertised and celebrated as the happiest time of the year, and for some it is just that. But for others, Christmas is indeed the darkest time, where loneliness seems lonelier, when separation feels more separate, and despair calls…
Jesus the refugee
Last year I wrote about Advent as a time of pregnant waiting, and of the way that Mary exemplifies mothering as the embodied practice of hospitality, fulfilling the biblical call to welcome the stranger (Lev. 19:33-34, Matt. 25, etc.) You can read “Making space for the stranger” here. Today, I’m reflecting on Jesus as a…
Making space for the stranger
We are accustomed to reading the narrative of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) as something of an ethereal event, a moment of encounter with the divine realm during which Mary’s feet didn’t quite touch the ground. But in our preoccupation with the other-worldly, we can overlook the fact that this is one of the most this-worldly…
And the Child Will Lead Them
A highlight of the worship on the fourth Sunday of Advent for me was the children’s story. Well, actually, after the children’s story when the storyteller asked four of the children to ask someone in the congregation to light one of the Advent candles. Children calling adults’ attention to the Advent candles? How appropriate. Really,…
Lament and Lego Parades
Sitting with the sadness. The third advent’s theme was “Sadness Changes to Gladness.” The part that is so hard to swallow, though, is that “changing to gladness” doesn’t necessarily mean the sadness goes away. In fact, there are so many reasons to lament and be sad. Broken relationships, war, poverty, destruction of creation, unhealthy patterns…
Prepare the Way for the Lord
Second Advent comes. We wait. We ponder the wilderness. Are we driven to this wilderness, chased by the attackers of fear, wrong decision, and unknown future? Or are we called to it, with trepidation and a slight hint of adventure? What does this wilderness look like? Is it the tangle of forests and brush that,…
