I can only imagine being with the women coming to Jesus’ tomb, finding the stone that had sealed it shut rolled away and the tomb empty. I can only imagine being in a locked room, and suddenly Jesus (who they all saw crucified) is standing there with them, inviting them to touch him. I can only imagine walking along the road, mourning Jesus’ death with an unknown traveler and inviting him to stay with them, only to realize their guest is Jesus himself.

Dear Friends in Christ,

It is difficult for me to believe that I am writing about Advent and Christmas already, but time seems to be moving at different rhythms in a world fraught with as much anxiety and change as we have experienced over the last two years. Our theme for this Advent season is “Close to Home.” When the worship planning team first encountered this theme, many of us struggled with whether it was appropriate to our lives today. After all, some of us have been home much more than we want, and this theme only reminds us of that. As we approach Christmas, and even Thanksgiving and our New Year celebrations, maybe this theme will make us more aware of what we’re missing.

It has been over a year since our lives were turned upside down overnight with the coronavirus pandemic. In many ways the last year has been a time of exile for many of us. We have been separated from our loved ones, our routines, our patterns, our regular lives. We were snatched away from the old life, thrown into a new one, and now are going back but know that we cannot go back to the way it was.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Unfortunately, there are experiences in life when dreaming seems impossible and hope is difficult to summon. In those moments, it is difficult to imagine any future or anything beyond the present struggles of life. Yet, life without dreams is contrary to life. Newsletter NovDecJan 2020-2021 for the WEB