My dear friends in Christ, here we are at the turn of the church year entering the season of Advent, a time of waiting, of hoping. It is a season where we dare to dream dreams and have visions and hopes for a future promised by God that we see glimpses of in holy scripture. Advent is all about waiting but not inaction. It is about waiting with hope for something that we know is going to happen.

Advent also speaks to us of things stunningly out of our control and beyond our grasp — the reign of God on earth.  We dare to look around at the world and say it can be different, we dare to say that we believe that a child, a little baby, carries the hope of the whole world in his tiny body. A hope that we proclaim each day of our lives. This is a time when we reflect on that hope.

Now that the clocks have gone back and the evenings are darker, it seems that the world around encourages us to spend times in quiet in the evenings. A time when we might both watch and wait for the coming of the Christ child.
We watch our own lives looking for signs of his coming and of his presence, we wait because we have certainty that he will indeed appear. This is a time for prayer and for the reformation of our hearts.
Advent is a promise, and demands a promise from us in return. Advent is like the hush in a theatre just before the curtain rises. We need Advent, the season of waiting, in a world that says go for it and hurry up. This waiting place called Advent not only prepares us for the birth of God in the flesh, it  also prepares each of us in our lives to receive Him.

I invite you to keep a holy Advent, to embrace a renewed spiritual discipline of prayer so that together we can share the joy of the birth of the hope of the world, Emmanuel, God with us. In Advent we are called to make space to allow for wonder and hope in our life, to embrace what Madeline L’ Engle so wonderfully calls, “the glorious impossible”.

Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, "Come Lord Jesus!"
(An Advent Prayer by Henri Nouwen)
 I wish you a blessed   Advent, dare to dream and live in hope.
                             Jane +