As you clean up after Thanksgiving and try new ways to prepare leftovers, I hope you have time to gather a few greens and five candles and set an intention for your observance of a blessed Advent. While all around us the Christmas music blasts and the color and sparkle of decorations shout “Buy, buy, buy!” I am grateful for the counter-cultural time of darkness, silence, and stories of warning and hope in this Advent season. In all your busyness, take time for that hour on Sunday to escape from the pressures of the world and rest in the eternal love of God. Check out the offerings of Lessons and Carols services and other concerts around the diocese. Take time for a prayer and the lighting of your Advent wreath at home. The world will always want more time, money, and attention; God declares that you are enough, just as you are. God’s desire for us is so great that God became human, and came among us to “live and die as one of us.” Indeed, Advent reminds us that God is among us every day, in every moment, if we will only pause and notice.
God's Blessings,
