2020: What. A. Year.
It could almost go without saying at this point. And yet, it feels important to give language to the shared human experience of this year. Living in the midst of a global pandemic has altered nearly everything familiar and dear to us…just as it has for nearly every other human on this earth.
Advent feels especially made for this year – like a container to hold all the sadness and longing of 2020 that is also big enough to hold tension with the knowledge that this is not the end of the story. Our heads may know that to be true, but right now, we are still very much in the messy middle.
We are bearing the weight of waiting, and it is costly to our bodies and souls. We are not meant to exist in a world of isolation and virtual connection, where we cannot see or hug our family and friends. Where we cannot even look upon the face of our fellow image bearers. Where the longing for healing and restoration is felt so constantly and acutely.
This middle part of the journey, filled with uncertainty and an inability to know how things will turn out, is where Christ delights to break in.
Hope came to earth in the baby Jesus born so long ago to a people who had been living in darkness for hundreds of years, awaiting the arrival of the promised Messiah. That same Christ promises us strength and peace by his presence that will sustain us in our personal and collective waiting, both now, and until he comes again to make all things new.
Thanks be to God.
This piece is part of the Advent meditation series at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and is based on the lectionary texts for December 20 (Psalms 24, 29 & 8, 84 // Isaiah 42:1-12 // Ephesians 6:10-20// John 3:16-21)
Everyday Adventures 