There is a reason that theologian Fleming Rutledge observes that “Advent is for the few.”
The season of Advent is a season of uncomfortable tensions–light and dark, hope and suffering, mercy and judgment, already and not yet. And though everything in our culture urges us otherwise, author Tish Harrison Warren cautions against skipping over Advent to Christmas, noting, “Christmas with its compulsory jollification and insistence on being the ‘hap-hap-happiest season of all’ devolves into saccharine escapism if we do not first take note of the darkness in the world and in our own lives.”
Few have the courage to dwell in Advent as it truly invites, but those who do know its worth.
With these things in mind, I hope you will join us for an Advent Silent Retreat: The Light of Hope, Saturday, December 5, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. A quiet day of prayer, guided silent reflection and gentle conversation. Seven meditations over seven hours. See Retreat for details and to register.