It is the day after a “JOYful Christmas Celebration”. The first-ever concert at Joy featuring only our congregational talent. Some had never “performed” publicly, excluding Sunday worship. I am tremendously honored and proud of them. They gave a gift that brought the Advent/Christmas spirit to us. We all may experience the seasonal blues at some point, but not yesterday! Once I decided that I was not going to treat this concert as another drag on my time, another event to squeeze into the schedule, it was truly an enJOYable experience. There were nerves and anxiety, but once you get those butterflies to fly in formation, you can overcome.

Mary, Mother of our Lord, had nerves and anxiety. Talk about classic understatement!  Biologically, she understood what the angel’s visit implied. But imagine her surprise at being chosen as the theotokos, the Christ-bearer. Again, classic understatement! Our observance of preparing for this event, called Advent, gets our hearts and lives ready to heed the prophet’s warnings. There is wrath, there is darkness, there is discontent in the land, just as there is every December. For us, the loss of a dear friend from a sudden heart attack at age 65. Our hearts break for her daughter, one of our daughter’s closest friends, and her husband, my friend and shipmate. Everywhere, people still bicker and snipe at each other; homicides continue unabated, residents of six states had their homes and lives tossed by killer tornados. In Mary’s day, the times were ripe for a Savior. Wrath, darkness, and discontent were their lot in life as well. It is a timing solely of God’s choosing, not based on our prognostications.

 When we need Him, the faithful always get a sign, an assurance. Advent make our highs and lows more pronounced, more acutely felt. It is hard for news to be processed, both good and bad. In that we have affinity with Mary. There is always a song, and we don’t have to be musically inclined to appreciate it. When we feel inept, God never is.

May your hearts be delighted and astonished at how God intervenes in our lives, coming to save yet again, with the assurance that calms our fears: “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). His unconditional love will be showered upon our good friends Beth and Ralph. That love will encircle and enfold every emergency room, ICU, and hospice house. That love will wrap around every cardboard sign–holding, couch-hopping, weary and downtrodden soul. The only surprise worth waiting for – a Savior, who is Christ our Lord.

Pastor Art