Advent Day Five

Advent Day 5:

One of the gifts of living in Christian community is getting to experience sharp contrasts. One family has their first child, another experiences infertility. One mourns the death of a loved one, another gets engaged. One struggles with another year of singleness, another finds healing from addictions. Learning to see Jesus means learning to see in contrast. It means holding joy and sorrow. Beauty and brokenness. Love and pain. Light in the darkness. The kingdom of God is here, the kingdom of God is not yet fully realized.

Loneliness at Christmas is one of those interesting contrasts. Loneliness is a deep emotion that gets stirred for many in this holiday season even though (and maybe because) it’s a time of celebration and joy. Loneliness is something this consumeristic, superficial world tries to distract and numb us from. It is partly a consequence of living in a broken world with damaged relations and idolized visions of self. But thats not all it is.

It is also God’s voice breaking into the cold, silent and sacred lives of his children and inviting them into something deeper. Today, I want to share one of my reflections with you from my book of meditations and prayers that is being released next week on Loneliness. You can read the reflection here and consider ordering the book of art and reflections. If you pre-order now it will be there in time for Christmas!