Reflections on entering into advent

We have all lost so much this year. Individually and communally. When I take time to think of the loss it feels to heavy to even type it out. Like these words won’t even scratch the surface, of the loss, the pain, the trauma we have all experienced to some degree. As we enter into the time of advent, a lot of can get lost in the “Christmas Spirit.” We are all wanting, even maybe needing to have a Holly Jolly Christmas. We want to deck the halls, and eat all the Christmas treats and watch all the Holiday films. In some ways it feels like we need that Holiday Spirit to just survive.

But as I reflect on this weeks advent theme of hope I am realizing how much we are in need of true hope. If our lives we truly filled with that Sparkle of the “Christmas Spirit” hope wouldn’t be needed. But the reason we need hope is because our lives are broken. We are on an individual level dealing with grieving loved ones, living in broken homes, battling with addictions, suffering from mental or physical health issues and on a communal and global level we are living in a world filled with racism and violence and a earth that we are mistreating, we have created walls, wars and hatred.

We need hope.

We need something or someone that we can find rest in, that we can find hope in, that we can find transformed lives in.

There is a beautiful spoken word poem by Amena Brown and in it she says:

This Jesus is not just a baby.

He is the radical revolutionary who came to do the saving

Who spoke uncomfortable truth to the narrow minded religious

Who turned over tables for justice

Who used his voice to speak for children, orphans, widows

Who became freedom for the oppressed, yes

He wanted us to know peace so badly he sacrificed himself.

So we could realize we are not us vs. them

We are us with Him

With that, I want to leave you with a few reflective questions for you to ponder, as well as a few resources for you if you are interested in advent or specifically Hope.