Dear Friends,
It was so amazing to see all our lights—so many lights!--of Hope shining brightly last Sunday evening. Your faces and especially your willingness to indulge in some holy chaotic singing filled me up. AND the spark of hope that is still igniting a smile in me is remembering Rowan Bosquez dancing and dancing to your heartfelt, hopeful and unmuted “This Little Light of Mine”!
But now the Good News work of Advent begins. Hope demands our participation! How will you spark hope this week? Here are a few sparks I’ve been jotting down:
Deliver (safely) a treat to a neighbor.
Write “You are beautiful” on a steamy bathroom mirror and watch it reappear during the week. (God loves making the invisible visible.)
Subtract something from your day today and use the time to pray for better relationships between neighbors, wider communities, and in our country…
Make a Giving Tuesday donation to the UCC to help refugees and asylum seekers. Giving Tuesday - United Church of Christ (ucc.org)
Attend the Mental Health 101 workshop on Wednesday night at 6:30 and learn how you can be a hopeful companion to others and care for yourself in these challenging times. Jackie can give you the ZOOM link at Jackie@fauntleroyucc.org
… I’ve included more sparks in the Advent at Home attachment. Maybe choose one and add one of your own?
This coming Sunday night, we’ll actually light two candles: Hope and Peace. Look for the link in the Highlights on Thursday. Advent hope and peace are both deeply rooted in all of the ways you lifted up last Sunday night: possibility, longing, a belief in a better world that needs cultivating and active nourishing, and a deeper understanding and reclaiming of what is precious and matters most. Those roots sometimes go even deeper when what is precious feels lost in shadows. But both hope and peace do their best work in the dark.
To prepare for Sunday night, talk with others about what matters most to you and what gives you peace.
Christ’s peace be with all of you this week!
Pastor Karyn
