The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love does not. -C. S. Lewis
Today is the start of Advent.
Advent is a four-week season in the Church calendar dedicated to anticipating the arrival, or "Advent," of Jesus. Christians from many backgrounds celebrate this time with reflections on hope, peace, love, and joy.
We tend to use this merry and bright time of year to show our kindness boldly, and then when the holiday season leaves, all of that merry and bright goes away for the most part.
We will toss coins in buckets, donate toys and warm coats, and talk about loving one another so much during this time of year, but why does this generosity and love usually fade away?
Why is that?
If:
We are to love our neighbors—ALL neighbors.
(The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39 CSB)
We are to be cheerful givers-
(Each of you should think carefully and then decide how much you can give. Then you will not be sad to give that money. Nobody has made you give it. God loves someone who is happy to give help to other people. 2 Corinthians 9:7 EASY)
Why do we have such a hard time putting these things into play?
We know that the love that Jesus has for us is everlasting, even when the world is messy. His love does NOT change.
And yet-
After the holiday season, the focus will go back to the differences we have with other people; we will be more focused on what we cannot do instead of what we can do.
What if we took time over these next few weeks to love our neighbors (with absolutely NO buts) and give when we can- give our time, a listening ear, connect people to resources we may have access to that they need, support other parents, and be a loving community?
What if we did a little of this and made no major announcement about it- JUST DO IT.
Practicing this for the next four weeks with the intention of checking ourselves when we start to add the “buts” and making the decision to keep practicing doing these things, knowing a misstep along the way is a chance to regroup and keep the practice going.
I have spent most of 2023 reading and studying the Psalms.
Throughout the book of Psalms, you are reminded that joy and heartache can be in the same space. You can have the big feelings, the angry feelings, and all of the uncertainty and go back to a joyful space over and over again. You can be on a hamster wheel of emotions, and the one thing that will remain the same is God's love for every one of us.
His love comes with no buts; it is us who add in the buts.
I have work to do regarding making time. And if I am honest, there are some folks I do not want to help, but just as God loves us all with no buts, I need to work on doing the same.
Over these next four weeks, let’s try to put into practice what we hear in the Advent sermons—the sermons about the love God has for us ALL, the sermons about giving and helping. We can and will make a little bit of a difference.
If we decide to do those things even after these four weeks, the impact we have will be even greater.
I say this all as a person who loves God, who has experienced church hurt, who is not sitting in the pews every Sunday, who is still looking for a church home where diversity is appreciated, and who is imperfect in so many ways.
This Advent season, take time to be still and pray that when you see a need, you will remove the buts and take some action.
So on this first Sunday of Advent, The Sunday of hope. I hope that you will take time to believe in hope, spread hope, and find a way to celebrate Advent in a way that brings you joy. You can read a devotional, have an advent countdown calendar, light a candle (one candle lit on each Sunday of Advent), take 10 minutes a day, and talk as a family about Advent.
Celebrating Advent does not need to be complicated; you do not need to purchase anything to celebrate Advent. You can start today or during the week. The holiday season has enough stress, no need to add more stress to it. Celebrate Advent and reflect on hope this week.
This is so layered and beautiful. I’d love to carry this season into January too.
Well done. Prayers for you and your family. Merry Chridtmas.☺️🙏🏻🎄✝️