This morning at my yoga class we had a substitute instructor whom I had never experienced before, but for whom I am so thankful.  At the end of class we always have time for relaxation in a particular pose that allows you to both relax, and to open yourself to the blessings of the universe, and that God is sending you.  Because it is also a small class, the instructor will come around and touch you in a certain spot while you're in this pose, either your forehead, or your hands, or maybe your feet.  They will offer this healing touch with some essential oils, and also by paying attention to where you may need release.  This morning the instructor touched my forehead and said, "such a furrowed brow."  At the end of class she offered me a hug, because she said she could tell I was carrying a lot with me this morning.

Perhaps you, like me, may find yourself this Advent season struggling with the twin demands of a busy calendar and a soul that longs for time to connect deeply with God; peace in the midst of struggle.  Last week we began to prepare our hopeful hearts for the coming of Christ into our lives, both as a tiny babe, but also in the many ways in which we wait for and yearn for Christ.  This week, we add a layer of peacefulness to our hope.  Peacefulness that is welcome, and yet elusive, during such a busy season.

This week's scriptures of Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8, point to making a pathway for peace in the midst of struggle.  As one prayer puts it, "As water is restless until it reaches its level, so the soul has not peace until it rests in God" (Sudar Singh, UMH 423).

God's peace comes to us even in the midst of our busy journeys and our rocky paths.  Won't you come join us on Sunday morning as we explore how we have seen God's comfort and peace at work in our world, our community, and in ourselves?

ALL are welcome!  #allmeansall - ALL are welcome to join us for worship at 10:30am on Sunday mornings.  You can also check out some of the many ways to be involved within our church community, to help prepare yourself for the coming of Christ, by visiting our Advent & Christmas worship page.

​We hope you have a peaceful week, and to see you soon!

Can you believe that tomorrow begins a new church year?  As we observe the beginning of Advent, we too observe the beginning of our church calendar, which begins with Hanging of the Greens.  Won't you join us tomorrow morning for Hanging of the Greens?

Please check out all the things happening during Advent and Christmas, by visiting that worship page here, as well as check out the "Social Media Advent Challenge" below in which you are invited to participate all the way through the Christmas season.

Regardless of how you participate this Advent season, we hope to see you soon, to worship and serve together, in God's great name!

There are those times when all the stars are torn from our skies, and morning will not come. We try to make our way in unlit passages, frightened, desperate and despairing. And yet it is into this impenetrable night that the Child is born. Tearing through the seams of darkness, the Morning Star appears in our eyes and in our hearts. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light!
                                                             - Ann Weems    

READINGS:
O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
                          - Psalm 43.3
 
Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
                           - Psalm 139.12

Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
                            - Psalm 97.11

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.
                             - Isaiah 9.2

REFLECTION:
In a classic series of fantasy novels for children – The Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis spins a tale of life in the imaginary land of Narnia. Narnia, a land of enchantment, magic, and talking animals; yet a land frozen in unrelenting winter; for in Narnia control has been wrested from Aslan – the son of the high king – by a wicked witch. Under her dominance light pales, biting winds blow without cease, the snows pile higher and deeper, and despair creeps ever closer to the hearts of the land’s inhabitants.  Narnia, as Lewis so vividly describes it, is a land in which it is always winter, yet never Christmas.

Always winter, yet never Christmas.  This is a haunting and powerful metaphor, a metaphor appropriate not only for the imaginary land of Narnia, but as well for the actual lives of exile, bondage, and darkness endured by many individuals, some closer to you than you might imagine.

Narnia lives in hearts obscured by darkness, hearts condemned to exile and bondage by their own misused freedom, by forces beyond their control, or by both.  Yet, as diverse as their stories may be, one thing is held in common by all people who walk in darkness.  To a person, they understand that someone has to love them if their darkness is to be truly dispelled; someone has to gaze openly and honestly into their hearts – to see them as they are – and still love them.  Only then, being loved, will they be able to love themselves, to regain a sense of wholeness, and even to reach out in love to others.

It is true; someone has to love you.  If the people who walk in darkness are to see a great light - if we are to complete our journey to Bethlehem and find wholeness and peace - someone must first love us; someone must enter freely into the brokenness of our lives, see us as we truly are, and embrace us in love.  The good news of Advent, my friends, is this: that someone is God.  God, who finds us in our darkest hour of despair and gives us hope; God, who bestows on us peace, not because we deserve it, but simply because we need it; God, whose presence in our lives overflows in joy and celebration; God, who sees us as we are, cherishes us as uniquely valuable; and invites us into a future in which our lives will be both transformed and fulfilled in love.

Before angels and shepherds, before star and wise men, the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the Savior: Prepare ye the way of the Lord.  Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

               - From Christmas Canticles

Our God has said: “Encourage my people! Give them comfort. Speak kindly to Jerusalem and announce: Your slavery is past; your punishment is over. I, the Lord, made you pay double for your sins.” Someone is shouting: “Clear a path in the desert! Make a straight road for the Lord our God. Fill in the valleys; flatten every hill and mountain. Level the rough and rugged ground. Then the glory of the Lord will appear for all to see. The Lord has promised this!”
                     - Isaiah 40.1-5

One can easily envision this scene described so vividly by Isaiah; laborers too numerous to count clearing a path for God in the desert. Perhaps it is the Angel armies of the Holy One descending from the heavens to flatten hill and mountain; perhaps it is the exiles themselves, weakened by their captivity and sluggish in their efforts, yet anxious to prepare the way for their God who promises release. Or perhaps you and I can be seen clearing paths through the desert of our hearts – discarding old resentments, releasing long held fears – preparing the way for the Advent of God’s Christ. Yet we need not choose between these spiritual highway crews for, after all, the story we tell, though one, has many chapters unlimited in time and space.

Then again we need not choose between these highway crews for, after all, their work is partial and incomplete. Try as they may they cannot on their own level the rough and rugged ground. But when Love comes… when Love sweeps across the wastelands of our lives and our world, no mountain will stand unscathed, no rough place untouched. When Love comes the way will be cleared, and will be clear for all to see. On Sunday we will light the fourth candle of Advent, the candle of Love, because Love is on the way.