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Showing posts from November, 2020

A Presence of Hope

  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.          Hebrews 11:1 We are called to hope. If you're anything like me, the last months have taken their best shot at your ability to hope. Between sickness, uncertainty, fear of what we don't understand, anxiety over what we can't control, conflicting expectations and uncomfortable recommendations, 2020 has not exactly been conducive to being hopeful. Here we are, months into what every retailer sending emails on Black Friday will once again call "unprecedented times", and so much of our outlook on daily life has been upended. Many of us have had to change and adjust much of our lives in just this past 24 hours, much less the last week or month. No matter how much sleep we get, we somehow still always wake up a bit too tired. Even though we just ate an hour ago, we somehow need another snack or meal already. The activities that we relied upon for rest, relaxation, and escape, d

Preparing for Advent: Waiting in Gratitude

The season of Advent invites us into a posture of waiting. We wait expectantly for the arrival of Jesus, Emmanuel – God with us . There is no doubt that most of this year has felt like one long season of waiting. This year, with its constant chatter of change, division, turmoil, and transition, has kept us waiting in ways that have drastically altered our way of being in the world. And so, we continue to wait.  Yet, we continue to wait in new, unique, and unexpected ways. So, as we prepare for this particular season of Advent, what posture of waiting are we being invited to take in 2020? What if our invitation is a posture of gratitude? How might we wait in gratitude? What are you feeling especially grateful for this year? Who are you feeling especially grateful for this year? How might you express your gratitude? It is our hope that our waiting will be guided and grounded in this gratitude throughout the Advent season. As such, over the next four weeks, as we wait in gratit