It's been a tough year.A year of anxious waiting — waiting for a pandemic to subside that has brought the world to a grinding halt; waiting for clear and reliable information about how to stay safe and healthy amid so much sickness; waiting for relief from the economic fallout of COVID-19; waiting for the arrival of a new bishop, a new priest. It's been a year of questions without clear answers: When can we be together again? How long until things will be back to normal? When will it be safe to have dinner with my loved ones again? We may rightly find ourselves also asking: Where is God in all this? Perhaps no season of the Christian calendar is better suited to where we are now — mentally, emotionally, spiritually — than the season of Advent. During this time, we acknowledge that the world is not as it should be; we confess our weaknesses and the limits of our humanity, that sometimes we just don't have it in us to "be the change we wish to see in the world"; and we express hopeful confidence that our redemption is just over the horizon, just around the corner. Indeed, it's almost here. What does that hope look like for you, personally? Over the coming days and weeks, we encourage you to take a look at some of the following resources that we've collected to help you have a meaningful Advent at home during this strange and unpredictable year. These resources are freely available to all, including instructions for a DIY Advent Wreath, devotional reflections, coloring pages for kids, and (one of our personal favorites) Virginia Theological Seminary's annual #AdventWord challenge. While we can't be together at this time, please know that our hearts are still bound to one another by the Spirit of Christ, and by the practices that we share in common. This Advent season, to paraphrase St. Paul (Phil. 4:8–9), let's keep our hearts fixed upon those things that are true, noble, just, and good — if there is anything worthy of our love and devotion in the world right now, let's meditate on these things together, trusting that whatever troubles arise, the God of Peace will be with us and carry us through. CEC Resources for Advent 2020
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#AdventWord2020
Click any of the images below to enlarge and read a short Advent reflection for the day.
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