Advent begins this Sunday, December 1st, and you still have time to sign up for our 8th annual Words for Waiting: Daily Devotions for Advent and Christmas! Provided in partnership with the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Christian Formation, this free resource includes daily Scripture readings, reflections, and prayers by students, campus ministers, and chaplains. This year’s contributors represent 37 faith communities in 17 different states, including 32 college groups and chaplains serving students on 39 campuses.
Here is a sneak peak of the reflection for this Sunday, December 1st, written by Mary Runyon, Campus Minister at @ucmlax.
Read Luke 21:25-36.
Advent is the season of anticipation and waiting. A four- week season of remembering and celebrating the arrival of Jesus on Earth. Waiting can be hard and produce anxiety, so we begin Advent with this passage. My partner’s grandmother told us a story years ago when we were visiting, recalling a time in her childhood growing up in North Carolina. Her eyesight was nearly gone, but you could see the scene in her voice as she recalled the feelings and things she was telling. She grew up poor, “we really did live on tobacco road!” She said laughing. Walking home from school, she and her siblings heard something they’d never heard. The sound swelled until they finally jumped from the road. They were shaking with fear and watched, hearing the roar as their imaginations told them the long black train they’d sung about in church was nearing! Finally, the machine came around the bend and their eyes saw an automobile; the first they’d ever seen! Of course, they’d heard of these new horseless carriages, having never experienced seeing one first hand. Fear turned to hope.
Passages like this can be used either way, to instill fear or display hope. As we enter into this season of Advent carrying fear and anxiety, we understand how the early Christian church felt. We believe, of course. But how long, O Lord? God is telling us to recognize that God is with us, to open our eyes and look next to us. Help each other, lift one another up while we live through this life. The time will come, sure enough. The challenge is to not miss the beauty of life around us now.
Pray
God, we pray we find hope even in fear and anxiety. Amen.
Mary Runyon Campus Minister, United Campus Ministry (La Crosse, WI)
There are two ways to read:
- Download the PDF and print a hard copy of the whole thing. (Notes for printing: Use ½” margins and set your double-sided printing to short-edge or horizontal binding. Fold in half, add a staple or two, and you’re all set.)
- Read online or subscribe for daily emails at ukirkadvent.org.