Dear Congregation,
Greetings! As we approach the third Sunday of Advent I hope and pray all is well with you. The good news this week is that in our country we are on the brink of having a vaccine to protect us from Covid-19 approved and put into distribution. That is certainly a joy, that will be lifted up as we light the JOY candle on our Advent wreath in our Garden Chapel on Sunday!
I’d like to share with you today a poem that speaks to me from a new book by The Rev. Maren Tirabassi , Christmas Eve at the Epsom Circle McDonald’s and Other Poems. She is a UCC pastor and one of my favorite writers of liturgy and poetry. This poem is found in the section of her book titled Reflections on the Pandemic for Advent and Christmas.
I hope to see you Sunday in worship in the Garden Chapel and on Facebook.
Advent Blessings.
Pastor Candy
click here to download this week's bulletin!In a long year of Advent
In a long, long year of Advent,
there has been real waiting,
not the ritual lighting of four candles, but the month-after-month experience
of living daily hope,
cherishing moments of peace, claiming joy in masked walks,
drive-by graduations,
car parade birthdays,
curbside commerce, virtual church,
zoomy, skypey, facetimey family, and grieving losses as deep love
learns to bend
familiar memorial forms. Much of this year has unfolded
in ways that turn us heartside out – and now we don’t just read this story
in its gathered cultural nostalgia,
but understand more,
about the unexpected pregnancy
of life itself,
the grueling essential work
of watching sheep sleep, and the foolishness
of wandering somewhere new
in a strange landscape
with the uneasy guidance of a star.
