Abiding
"I’ve learned that waiting is the most difficult bit, and I want to get used to the feeling, knowing that you’re with me, even when you’re not by my side." –Paulo Coelho (As the church year begins anew, so, too, this attempt at a second blog focusing on prayer as a way of living each day. I look forward to hearing if you find this helpful.) Welcome to Advent, the season during which we ponder and wait. A time when the world seems to pick up speed; yet as Christians, we yearn to slow down, to remember again the world-changing events of over 2000 years ago. This first Sunday of Advent we light the candle of prophecy and hope. The story begins in a manger or stable—or does it? Prophets like Isaiah and Zechariah told of the Messiah, the one to come, thousands of years before a virgin named Mary was visited by an angel named Gabriel. Ours is an ancient story. Ours is a story of longing and unrest, of rescue from exile. As we begin the journey again, that slow, del...