Dear Kaleid Ladies,
Good Morning! What a happy surprise to see you today! For the next four weeks, you’ll see our emails on Sunday mornings as we journey through Advent. Church tradition celebrates the four Sundays preceding Christmas with a time of waiting, our hearts and eyes trained, scanning the horizon for the arrival of Jesus.
The soul-filling words of Advent make space in our hearts for our Lord’s coming. And so, we will ponder Advent words in the coming weeks:
Hope
Peace
Joy
Love
Today we light the Hope candle.
Hope matters because we are not who we want to be, we are not where we want to be, and this is not how things are to be. There is a gap between what we long for and our reality.
Hope is brave because it resists the easy way out. It says “no” to facing the gap between reality and wholeness by numbing out or giving up or indulging resentment. Hope gives us courage to turn to mystery instead, holding our questions up to the gentle and piercing love of the God who would come all this way.
Advent invites us to awaken, nurture, and encourage Christian hope by teaching us to wait…the kind of waiting that holds on to desire and faith against disappointment and despair.
In hope, our waiting posture is an open posture. We get honest about our desire, and we come to Jesus in faith, believing “that He is good and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
Hope is a reliable companion as we wait.
As we wait in hope, we remain connected to our longings, remembering that God cares.
As we wait in hope, we remain connected to our faith, remembering God’s character.
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. May we be women of hope this week.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13
Blessing of Hope
So may we know
the hope
that is not just
for someday
but for this day—
here, now,
in this moment
that opens to us:
hope not made
of wishes
but of substance,
hope made of sinew
and muscle
and bone,
hope that has breath
and a beating heart,
hope that will not
keep quiet
and be polite,
hope that knows
how to holler
when it is called for,
hope that knows
how to sing
when there seems
little cause,
hope that raises us
from the dead—
not someday
but this day,
every day,
again and
again and
again.
—Jan Richardson (from The Cure for Sorrow)
Gratefully,
The Kaleid Team
P.S. You’re Invited!!: Join us for our contemplative Advent Circle on Wednesday mornings for the next four Wednesdays! We meet on Zoom from 6:30 – 7:15! Register here.
P.S. (the 2nd) If you would like to make an advent wreath for your home this year, consider getting this ring that holds four taper candles, putting it on a plate or cake stand, and surrounding it with greenery, ornaments, or other beautiful reminders of the season.
P.S. (the 3rd) Here is a list of hope verses for you.
Photos: Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash// Photo by Hennie Stander on Unsplash