Windows into Advent - Day Thirteen

Reflection

The picture above was taken as I arrived for an early morning service at St John's a couple days ago. That Wednesday morning Eucharist, along with our Thursday lunchtime Eucharist, our daily online prayers, and of course our Sunday gatherings are all anchors in my week which I increasingly rely on as places of refreshment and stability in a rapidly changing world. 

The Seasons of the Church year I find similarly grounding. Every year, beginning in Advent, we are encouraged to start again in our great Scripture story of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and move from there to the stories of the early Church beginning at Pentecost and moving through All Saints and All Souls to the reminder of the 'Reign of Christ' to close the year. This serves as a reminder that life is cyclical, as the seasons come and go, to return again year after year. 

Advent starts the Church year with the reminder of God's great love for us shown in Christ, and that Christ within, around, and between us opens the way for transformation, in partnership with the Divine, of ourselves, our communities, and our world. It is a calling to come back again to the Divine story of love, hope, and faith.

Scripture

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation

2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 17 & 18