(This one is coming in late, because it’s exams/finals week!)

That’s hard, right?

I mean, I find it hard. Especially after the last few years, when we have faced trials of many kinds.

I find it hard that a democratic nation is being decimated in war.

I find it hard to reconcile a worldwide pandemic and the difficulties suffered in less-able nations.

I find it hard to deal with the reality of supply-chain issues which affect my daily life.

I find it hard to deal with climate change and the very real impact it has on my friends, and my local reality.

I find it hard that democracy is facing challenges we could not have imagined a decade ago.

I find it hard that our politics are divided and growing further apart, every day.

I just find it hard to consider it joy as we faces trials of many kinds.

And yet, this is what the New Testament in Christ Jesus calls me to do: consider it joy, because in these trials God calls us closer, in these trials, we get to know Jesus, in these trials the Holy Spirit moves our hearts towards compassion and kindness.

It may be hard. It WILL be hard, but in all of this, our faith is made complete.

This Advent, may you find joy in the midst of trials. May you know that God will always make away. May you find the sea parted before you.

May we all trust in the God who makes a way.

Today is the Advent Sunday of Joy. This is typically marked by lighting the third candle of the Advent wreath – a candle of a different colour (often pink, where the others are purple or blue).

The different colour of the candle is meant to stand out and be noticed – this is the point in Advent when we move from the quiet, solemn waiting of early advent, to the joy and celebration of the coming of the Christ.

I know Christmas isn’t the most joyful time of the year for some. Those who have lost a loved one or are struggling just to get through the days, may find it difficult to enter into joy. Still, I hope joy comes to everyone – whether it is the quiet joy of contentment or the boisterous and noisy joy that is held up as an ideal at this time of year. You see – joy doesn’t have to be loud to be real. And even a small amount of joy goes a long way.

So this Advent, may you experience joy and may you share it with others. May you know that however joy comes to you, it is real and important and a part of the celebration.

Yesterday I was feeling contemplative and quiet. Today, I’m feeling a bit more rock-star-ish. And there isn’t much that can compare for rock star Christmas vibes with For King and Country’s live version of Drummer Boy:

I encourage you to seek out their Live from Phoenix album, as well as their Christmas studio album. They feature heavily on my Christmas rotation.

May the music of this season bring you joy as you celebrate the Saviour!

In the busy-ness of the end of my first semester back at school, I’ve been thinking about peace. (And missing blog posts when I’m tired – please forgive me! 🙂 )

I’ve been thinking about ways to sink into that peace-in-your-soul state. Sometimes it sneaks up on me, but I think more often I go looking for it.

There are ways I can find it:

– sitting a quietly and contemplating the sky (this reminds me to put down or turn off my various screens, and lift my eyes upward, to the One who made the skies and everything under them)

-listening to music (the kind varies day to day, but most often a quiet worship song will get me there)

-reading the promises of God in His word (and remembering that the One who made the promise is faithful)

-counting my blessings (which leads to realizing how blessed I am, and praying blessing upon others)

These are the ways that stand out to me right now – but what bout you? How do you find peace?

This Advent, may you know His peace, be blessed, and be a blessing.

(The last couple of days I’ve been tired, and wordless, and just not up to writing a blog. Glad to be back at it today. I love this so much, and it reminds me what it’s all REALLY about.)

Today is the Advent Sunday of Peace. I find myself at the farmhouse for an overnight while I await the upgrade to the electrical service that will pave the way for central heat. We won’t accomplish central heating this year, but we will be ready to get it done in the Spring thaw. So I’m happy to be here, happy for the step forward that will take place tomorrow.

I’m also at peace. There’s just something about this house and the acre of land that it sits on… it’s good for my soul. It’s a place of peace and rest for me.

That is desperately important in a world like ours – a world of strife and toil. A world in which violence strikes the most vulnerable and wars never seem to cease. It’s important, in a world like this, to find peace. Jesus understood that when he said:

Just like our hope, our peace is found in Jesus. He understands the trouble in our world, but he has also overcome it.

This Advent, may we seek peace and promote peace. May we shine a light of peace into our homes and neighborhoods. May we know that peace comes from the child we are waiting for.

I’m feeling less wordy and more musical today, so I thought I’d share one of my favourite Advent hymns. I only learned this hymn a few years ago, and it’s joyful tune always makes me smile.

Here is a bit of background about the hymn:

“People, Look East” first appeared in The Oxford Book of Carols (1928). The lively tune, a traditional French carol BESANÇON, which earlier appeared with the anonymous text, “Shepherds, shake off your drowsy sleep,” provides a festive setting for this wonderful Advent text. In the last forty years, this hymn has gained increasing popularity, as evidenced by its appearance in a number of hymnals in the United States.

Key images of the season are abundant. “People, Look East” is the direction of the rising sun and, in the history of Christianity, the direction of the coming Messiah. In stanza two, the bare earth is waiting for the seed that will flourish in the reign of the Promised One. In stanza three, the stars that guided the Magi shape the “bowl” of the heavens, giving signs of hope beyond “the frosty weather.” The angels’ song, in stanza four, sets “every peak and valley humming,” an oblique reference to Isaiah 40:4, “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low. . .”

Except for one word that changes in the last two lines of each stanza, the poem and its musical setting give the sense of a refrain. “Love,” in turn, is defined as “Guest,” “Rose,” “Star,” and “Lord.”

This joyful Advent hymn has the spirit of a Christmas carol, but with an imaginative Advent text. Singing this carol is indeed one way to prepare both our homes and hearts for the coming of the Savior

https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-people-look-east

May this Advent hymn bless you as you listen!

Sometimes you come across a verse of scripture that you know you’ve read before, and it just strikes you in a new way. That happened to me while looking for an idea for today’s blog. I read this:

Fo He who promised is faithful. That is the reason we can hold to hope. Because God is God – unswerving, steadfast, faithful.

Hold to hope when our hope is I’m God, is like holding to a spire of granite in the midst of a rushing river. The water may swirl and slosh and threaten to tear us away from the rock, but the rock itself will not be moved.

He who promised is faithful.

So this Advent, may we hold on to hope, knowing that the hope. May we know He who made the promise. May we know He is faithful.

I was reminded by a classmate this week that waiting is hard. It’s hard to sit in expectation, not knowing what the future will bring.

In Christianity, we enter into this mode – expectant waiting – at the high holy seasons of the year. During advent, we wait for the celebration of Christ’s coming into the world. During Lent we journey towards Jerusalem – Jesus’ betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection.

We already know the outcome of these stories: the Christ child WILL come into the world, the tomb WILL be empty on the third day.

And yet, we find it important to our spirituality to wait for these times of celebration. We find it important to walk the difficult road. We don’t just rush straight to the joy, we focus on the uncertainty and the importance of trusting God to do the ultimate good for all humanity.

I love Advent. I love watching the lights go up and the trees appear in the front windows of neighborhood houses. I love singing the songs of expectation and hope. I love knowing that God is with us, even when we are ‘just’ waiting.

This Advent, may we all put our hope in God. May we find that hope in God is the best place we can be, even when the waiting is hard. May waiting make the celebration all the sweeter. May we be blessed.