Why we light those candles
What does it mean to be people of faith, people of Advent, in these times?
We need a little Advent now!
The people of Israel had to wait more than 700 years before the Messiah promised in Isaiah would finally appear in a manger in Bethlehem as recounted in Luke. They could not rush the event. Employing a trait almost completely absent from the sensibilities of our on-demand culture in the 21st century, they had to wait in the hope that the bright, new day God had promised would surely come to pass.
Advent 2020 puts Christians in precisely the same position; we have to wait for the new day, for the emergence of what Josiah Royce, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John Lewis all referred to as “the beloved community.”
Advent hope for the mess we live in
In the prophet’s prayer in Isaiah 64, read on the first Sunday of Advent, the mess is named. The bliss is sought. For a post-Exilic community and a pandemic-hammered Church, the full range of emotions is found in speaking to God. We hear the prophet’s call for thanksgiving. We are chastened to remember God’s past acts and the fierce love of God.
Readers Write: Fear
We asked readers to submit brief reflections on words associated with Advent. Here is a response on the word “fear.”
Readers Write: Truth
We asked readers to submit brief reflections on words associated with Advent. Here is a response on the word “truth.”
Readers Write: Hope
We asked readers to submit brief reflections on words associated with Advent. Here are two responses on the word “hope.”