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,…
First Advent: Presence in the Chaos
With the first Sunday of advent come the simple little changes that I have come to make to mark this season as set apart. Placing candles on the table, shifting devotionals from regular materials to special advent resources, getting out Christmas music and decorations, and planning special worship with our faith community all happen year…
Planting the Seed of an Idea
This weekend, the campus movie theatre showed “Inception.” An entertaining story about technology allowing entry into another person’s dreams, the film strangely reminded me of the Advent story. In the movie, dream architects and navigators interact with the sleeper in the dream world. Usually they would extract important information for a client. In this case,…
