Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friend,

There are nuances to the Advent waiting that catch me off guard each year - bearing with the reality of Jesus already-but not yet saving work as the days get shorter, engaging the practice of looking for the glorious Resurrection while also looking for the Son of God, close by. The grandeur of judgment and the wideness of grace! It’s all there. The overarching theme of watchfulness perhaps has finally permeated for me this year - my eyes and ears are open, even finding Advent a little too fast to take it all in. We’re already almost to Advent 2!

While we remain in the week of Advent 1, I want to spend some time with the Advent 1 Collect: Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

That armor of light language has stood out to me in my prayers this week. It is from the 13th chapter of the Letter to the Romans: Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Romans 13:11-12a

The calling has often been read as a moral one, Paul instructing the community to turn from immoral actions and toward a life that is oriented toward Jesus, a life that borrows that light and seeks truth. A friend wrote this piece about Advent practices that are helping her stay watchful, about taking the calling to honesty and the challenge of looking for Jesus in a world which to us seems as broken as it ever has been. It might be helpful as you consider practices of Advent that inspire watchfulness, truthfulness, open eyes for the light of God in Christ and in one another.

In Christ,
Mtr Taylor