Advent is a time of extremes. The Scriptures featured in our Sunday readings (12-16-12) have large and provocative themes: the end times, judgment, and repentance; but also joy, peace, and hope.
So if you are feeling extreme feelings this time of year because of financial pressures…social commitments…high expectations of others…too many errands…
If you are over-eating and under-sleeping…or over-spending and under-appreciating…
If you are wracked by loneliness…disappointment…or grief…
And if you are not sure what to be joyful about in this year’s celebration, take heart. Your worries, your feelings, and your questions have already been raised through the many prophets and people of faith who came before you.
Because, in all that mess
in an extreme world
to a community with extreme poverty
to a family in extreme vulnerability
to precisely Mary and Joseph–coping with extreme circumstances–
God sends His son.
C.J. Walker Waite holds her son, Zachary Walker Waite, 8 months, while singing at a prayer vigil denouncing recent violence in her community. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 2, 2012
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