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-from the Pastor’s Heart

Advent—Awaiting the Already                        

Pastor deVega in Awaiting the Already says:

“Life is an undulating wave, meandering through triumphs and tragedies at a random pace,          surprising us around every bend with what lies next. There is not predictability to life, nor a surefire   way of predicting the future. We yearn for what lies ahead…We cast anchors for the past…

All we have with any certainty is the here and now. Our only true task is not to fret about tomorrow or get stuck in yesterday, but to focus on the gift of the present moment. The more we live into and breathe through every moment as it comes, the more we realize that our lives are actually never static, nor our existence ever still. There is movement in every moment.

Ultimately, Matthew’s birth narrative tells us: No matter what you are going through, God is in it.  Your life may be a lot like Joseph’s right now, and the pain of your struggle may be so intense that you cannot see through the fog of your disillusionment to sense anything beyond the trauma. But there is a redemptive hand already at work. God is at work…That’s how a mysterious God operates: just beyond the reach of our senses and sensibilities, but fully approachable through our faith.”

Matthew reminds us that Christ came into the World “as it is” with all its triumphs and tragedies and that He comes into our world the same way. Advent reminds us to place the emphasis on His “coming” and not on life “as it is.” That’s the real reason Christmastime can be Merry.

♪♫♪ May your days ♫♪ be merry ♪♪and bright ♪♪♫…   —Pastor Gary