As you are probably feeling right now, it is such a busy time of the year. There are many things happening this week, next week, and throughout the foreseeable future here at Crossroads and in your personal life. It is hard to keep up and can be difficult to make time for everything, even things that we want to be a part of.
As I invited us in worship this past Sunday, let’s give each other the gifts of grace and understanding if we cannot manage to do it all whether here at Crossroads or activities elsewhere, and let’s begin by offering that grace to ourselves.
We can remind ourselves that the season of Advent is a time of waiting, listening, and reflecting on what the coming of the Christ child means for the world at this particular juncture in history. We can give ourselves permission to slow down, to do fewer things, and to focus our attention and energy on what is most meaningful for the Advent journey. What draws you closer to God.
It helps to remember that nothing we do will make Christmas happen, and nothing that we don’t get done will ruin Christmas, because the good news of great joy is that Christ has come. We don’t make Christmas; we celebrate it as a gift beyond anything we could do.
I share with you these words written by Rev. Jan Richardson in her book, Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas:
“The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before. It is not possible to keep it from coming, because it will. That’s just how Advent works. What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you. And you begin to grasp what it was you missed…
…So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder.
There will be time enough for running. For rushing. For worrying. For pushing.
For now, stay. Wait.
Something is on the horizon.”
Peace,
Pastor Beth
