Advent Week I

Reflecting on hope

Dear friends,

There hasn’t been much snow this December. I (Emily) have been busy finishing my latest project. I am still on a digital fast, trying to reclaim as many brain cells as I can. As we enter into another season of Advent, we are quieting our hearts to give space for the light of Christ to shine on us. This year was not an easy one for me. But upon reflecting, I see God’s abundant grace and how He is always taking care of me and my family.

As I (Julia) turn my heart toward the coming Christmas Day, I am moved by the yearly reflections. No matter how difficult life is, Christ is born, and each year at Christmas the hope of Christ is again on the horizon. I’m settling in and ready for the light to fill this dreary winter landscape.

Today, we are meditating on hope. There are many options for where we could place our hope in this modern age. Perhaps you trust Amazon to get your packages to your doorstep in time for Christmas. If you lived in Canada with Emily you’d know that hoping in the post can lead to disappointment when the workers go on strike. But hope in Jesus is a different thing entirely. Hope in Jesus will not disappoint us. Our hope as Christians is in what has already been done, and we can hold to the promises of the gospel without fear of being let down.

For the rest of this month, we are going to reflect and write a chiastic poem based on weekly Advent passages from the Book of Common Prayer. A chiastic poem is a reflection of itself, the way a still pond reflects the trees and the sky. Ours is ten lines. We enjoyed writing it together—Emily writing the first five while Julia echoed them in the second half of the poem. The “collect” reading from the Book of Common Prayer says, “Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light…” We tried to capture the movement from darkness to light in our poem.

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May the Hope of Christ fill you this week.