Advent: I Hate to See it Go

This Sunday will mark the 4^th and final Sunday in Advent.  I’ll let you in on a secret though, as much as I love seeing my family at Christmas, I’m not really ready to move out of Advent yet. 

Ok, why, you ask? After all, Advent started as a penitential season like Lent so why would I want to hang out in Advent?  (I’ll spare you my nerdy recounting of the history of Advent… although if you want to read it, it’s below).   While Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for the mystery of Christmas, it is also more than that.  It is a time to Hope for and long for the day when the Kingdome of God will be fully present.  I think of it as the day when the light of Christ that first pierced the darkness at Christ’s birth will have grown so bright in us that it cast out every shadow of darkness.  Or to think of it another way, the day when the peace of Christ that first came at Christmas will grow to peace on earth.   While some Christians think of this as the “end times” or the “rapture,” I’ll simply say that’s not my theology.  Rather, I suspect the coming of the kingdom of God will look more like a sunrise than a flash of lightning.

Still, even knowing this about Advent, I never fully “got it” until I worked in a homeless shelter.  Not long after I started working there I got sad…really, really sad.  All I saw around me was the darkness of systems of oppression and people hurting, homeless and hungry.  Yup… Pretty hard to stay an idealistic and optimistic young person fresh from college.  Instead I was growing more and more hopeless.  Then Advent came.  I talked to a pastor I knew and she told me, “Light those Advent Candles.”

At first I did NOT like that advice.  But soon I started to understand Advent.  I finally got that it wasn’t just a countdown to Christmas.  It was about finding hope, and seeing the light grow stronger every Sunday.  It was about the good news that someday things will change.  Pretty soon I found comfort in Advent.

Not that long ago we saw a string of Youth suicides in our country as the result of bullying, in particular among LGBTQ youth.   One response was the “It gets better” project.   Grownups posted testimonies of the trials they faced as a youth, only to tell of how things DID get better for them.  It seems that many did find comfort in this. Knowing that someday things will be better gives us hope to live in the present and to hold on until that day.  In some ways, Advent seems a little like a liturgical “It Gets Better” project. 

In Advent we take a look around us at the places of pain, at the shadows, and yet claim the hope that it will get better.  So as we come to our final Sunday of Advent, I’ll ask you to linger in the light of those 4 Candles a little longer instead of rushing on to Christmas.  “Wait for the Lord:  keep watch, Take heart.”

 

A brief overview of the history of Advent, for my fellow nerds:

The word “Advent” comes from the Latin “Adventus”, meaning coming. It is an observance to commemorate the original waiting for coming of the Messiah as well as a time of waiting for the “second coming” or culmination of the Kingdom of God. Advent, while it marks the start of the church year was actually the last season to develop.  When Advent was developed it was done as a parallel to Lent, as a penitential season of preparation for the great mystery of Christmas.  Like Lent the liturgical color was purple to symbolize penance.  In lent there was a “mid way” point where the penance was “lightened” for a Sunday and the color changed to rose to symbolize this break from penance (Laetare Sunday).  So, In Advent there was also a “pink Sunday” to mark the mid way point called Gaudete Sunday.    In more recent years there has been a push to use blue instead of purple as the symbolic color of Advent.  Blue is said to represent the color of the breaking dawn and thus emphasizes the feelings of anticipation and waiting that we now associate with Advent.

“She moves in Mysterious Ways”… The Holy Sprit that Is: A Reflection on The Fall Retreat

“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright

She moves in mysterious ways

It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright

We move through miracle days

Spirit moves in mysterious ways”

Maybe Its because we listened to the entire U2 Greatest hits album on the way home from Camp Wesley Woods, but these lyrics seem to stick with me when I think back on our time this past weekend.  I don’t know what U2’s inspiration for the song was, but these words strike me as a pretty accurate metaphor for the Holy Sprit- She moves in mysterious ways, in ways that we don’t expect or understand.

There is something about going away together on retreat that allows the spirit to move in mysterious ways.  Sure, we had our structured devotionals and worship times that we planned, but it seems that the moments that God was most tangible were the moments that weren’t planned.

During our time on the ropes course, I saw God as we all encouraged and supported each other.  It can be a bit nerve-racking to climb on cables and swing on ropes (I know I was nervous about the infamous “V- Swing”). However, taking on this challenging experience only helped everyone to come together and encourage one another. All I can say is that this was truly a joy to experience.  On a personal note, I thank each of the youth and chaperones for encouraging me to take the “leap of faith” and take on the V-swing.  It certainly was a little stretch (ok, a big stretch), but in taking on that challenge I can say that I was privileged to experience their love and support first hand.  Wow! I hope that everyone took away the experience of love and support that I felt from that experience.

Later that afternoon, Rev. Mandy led us out to the waterfall.  I can’t begin to put into words how beautiful this waterfall was.  There is something about nature that points us to God, that shows us the presence of God in a tangible way. To add to the beauty, the mist of the water acted as a prism, casting a beautiful rainbow across the water.  It got bigger after we showed up… not sure what that means Among the wonders we discovered at the falls were the rocks you could rub together to make face paint and use to draw and write all over other rocks.  Still, I think my favorite moment from this part of the trip was when one of our youth filled up a sprite bottle of water from the fresh mountain falls and proclaimed it was “holy water.”  I couldn’t agree more. 

After dinner, we built a fire and made s’mores around the fire.  We took turns telling stories around the fire. Some were well known “ghost stories” and others were stories from our own lives. Some were scary, others were funny and still others were the stories that we ministers think we should hold onto for future sermons, stories that will “preach.”  It was a wonderful way to conclude a great day.

On Sunday morning, we had a simple but wonderful time of worship together.  We sang songs and had communion.  It was a great way to conclude our time at camp. 

Often we only expect God to move within stain glass sanctuaries and in our structured service. However, the Spirit is wild and mysterious, working in ways we don’t expect.  The Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit is actually my favorite- a wild goose.  Not a peaceful, beautiful dove, but a loud and wild goose, flapping about and squawking.  If we’re open, I think we occasionally catch a glimpse of this wild spirit. I am happy to say that as I reflect on the weekend, it really did seem like one of those times. Thank you to all who were able to make this trip happen!

New Blog for Youth and their Peeps

Hello Friends,

We’ve started a blog for the youth group at Saint Mark UMC.  We will use this page to post reflections that are geared toward the youth and their experience.  We will also use this to share our experiences on trips or other shared experiences.

Anyone is welcome to comment and join in the discussion. Please keep all comments respectful and appropriate for a church group. 

Happy Blogging,

Kim