Like the Wise Men—those scholars of yore who sought Jesus to pay tribute to this new king — who traveled far through territory familiar and odd, under conditions fair and foul, we have traveled long and hard this year. Unlike those travelers of old, we have made the journey without an experienced caravan of savvy adventurers to watch over us. We did…
Dear Friends, Merry Christmas to you all. May God’s blessings be upon us all this Christmas and throughout the upcoming year. Here we are at the very start of the Christmas season, the first Sunday of Advent behind us with the candle of hope on the Advent wreath lit. Now we move into the season in earnest, planning and delivering special services,…
The earth is completing its stately stroll around our sun once again. The days grow short, the nights long, and the weather … in even more leisurely fashion … turns crisp, then cold. Together we welcome in a new Advent season. We are reminded again this year of how much God loves humanity, so much so that he sent Jesus to tell us so, and to show us how to best love each other.
Dear Friends,
Merry Christmas to all. First times give us pause and make us think … like, writing this letter for the first time. More importantly, the above scripture from Luke lets us witness a really big first thing, the long awaited arrival of humanity’s savior, the Messiah, and the first announcement of Jesus’ arrival as a baby by God’s messengers to a very surprising … and surprised … group of people.
It has been an eventful time since Sherry and I arrived in North Andover in early September. We have celebrated and mourned together, shared our joys and concerns, prepared for both a pastor’s installation service and five baptisms on the first Sunday of Advent to ring out the month of November. Now the Advent season is upon us once again and well underway. Soon we will be focusing on preparing to celebrate Jesus’ birth, and driving ourselves to distraction with every other thing we do during the Christmas season, both religious and secular. Before we get there, let’s pause and take a moment to really consider what happened that night so long ago in Bethlehem.
A year ago, who would have thought we would be where we are today? There is no question that the Covid 19 pandemic and subsequent lock-downs have changed our lives dramatically and not always for the better. I suppose we must obey the “powers that be” in these matters, but I have to admit, Advent services without singing is hard. And I am sure that everyone will have at least one uncomfortable memory of these days.
That’s the bad news, and enough of it, because Christmas is about good news.
As we approach the season of Advent this year, with so many unexpected and terribly disrupted events, it might be good for us to think back 2000 years to that first Christmas, when Jesus was born. With all our political turmoil (as I write this mid-November, the election is still in the courts) and unanswered questions about the virus, maybe some perspective could help, I hope.