This week opens Advent with the charge to wait, to prepare. From the dark and forbidding words in the first reading from Isaiah to Paul’s more encouraging words to the blunt parable from the Gospel - Wait! Watch!
This year feels like a constant waiting and endless watching. We watch the news for updates on the pandemic. We watched (and in some cases still watch) the election. We watch for updates on family and friends to ensure they remain in good health. We watch and wait for those wrenching calls and messages telling us that there is no more waiting for a loved one.

Advent invites us to journey deeper into waiting and watching; there is an invitation to restoration. In the space we inhabit, those liminal spaces we find ourselves in so frequently this year, we can remind ourselves:
Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.
Advent is a time not to try to reinvent ourselves, save that for your New Year’s Resolutions or perhaps your Lenten observances. Rather Advent is a time of preparation. Most importantly it is not a preparation we do alone. The burden does not rest upon us. Take a deep breath, this is not yet one more task for you in the midst of pandemic life.
The invitation from the prophet Isaiah, the apostle Paul, and the Gospel of Mark is to put yourself into God’s hands. To let go of those burdens, the chaos, the worries and to do what we are able to rest in God. We rest in God’s hands and are invited to allow ourselves to be restored, to be shaped like clay by God.
God is with you. As Paul reminds us, “God is faithful.” Pause. Breathe. Feel the words of the Alleluia, “Show us Lord, your love; and grant us your salvation.” As you rest in whatever space you find yourself, whatever uncertainty, whatever in-between, you are loved by God and God is faithful.
We also invite you to join us each Sunday evening for prayer during Advent. The first and fourth Sundays will be pre-recorded and posted to the site at 6 pm Eastern/5 pm Central. On the second and third Sundays, December 6th and 13th, we will have prayer together on Facebook Live at 9 pm Eastern/8 pm Central. We hope you can join us!
See the new Prayer Corner page for more information. Links will be added each week.
Comments