Dear Caldwell,
I hope this finds you safe, probably also stuffed, after Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow we begin the Season of Advent, a time of expectation of God’s purest self-communication, the Messiah Christ Jesus. This week, I’ve been thinking about how peculiar we people of God are to ‘expect’ something that has already come, to hope for something we already know. The mystery of faith is that by rededicating ourselves to that hope and expectation, we can find something altogether new in ourselves and in our God. Here is what Carol Wade of the National Cathedral in Washington has to say about this:
“Each time we approach our Advent pilgrimmage anew, we are different. The end of one journey positions us to begin the next. Our yearly pilgrimmage gives us once again an opportunity to reconsider the way we are living our lives. Through pilgrimmage, praise, prayer and purpose, (we are reminded) that we are always waiting in hope, always called to be light in the world and to work on behalf of God’s reign of justice and peace. We are forever engaged in an act of new creation.”
I hope that Advent dawns afresh on you and yours tomorrow morning.
Let us keep in prayer Tovi Martin, who is recovering from a broken ankle (see her earlier email for how to help) and Richard Campbell, who suffered a severe chest bruise in a bus accident last week.
Hoping to see you in church,
John