[guest blogger: Bill Paine]
First, thanks to Father Reese for allowing me to lead Advent I's bible study session. I look forward to a wonderful shared learning experience with everyone who can join us at 12 Noon this Sunday, November 30th.
We will be taking a look at the three scripture lessons and the psalm appointed for this Sunday, Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, and Mark 13:24-37, through the lens of the Advent Series theme, "We're In For a Change."
There's an old joke that goes something like this... Question: how many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb? Answer (delivered in a horrified voice): Change??
Change is scary. Change is coming to the Big Game in a football uniform and being handed a squash racquet. Change is uncomfortable and challenging. Even our language celebrates things that do not change, calling them traditional, familiar, steady, unwavering—you can probably think of half a dozen more adjectives.
So why, then, talk about change during Advent, a season that culminates in what is probably the single most tradition-laden, timeless, warm-and-fuzzy, we-always-do-it-this-way holiday of the year? Because underneath the traditional hymns, the decorations, the anticipation and all that makes Advent familiar is a seldom acknowledged truth: Advent is not a celebration of the road to the manger; it is a warning that ahead of us is the road to the Cross.
Yours in Christ,
Bill
We will be taking a look at the three scripture lessons and the psalm appointed for this Sunday, Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, and Mark 13:24-37, through the lens of the Advent Series theme, "We're In For a Change."
There's an old joke that goes something like this... Question: how many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb? Answer (delivered in a horrified voice): Change??
Change is scary. Change is coming to the Big Game in a football uniform and being handed a squash racquet. Change is uncomfortable and challenging. Even our language celebrates things that do not change, calling them traditional, familiar, steady, unwavering—you can probably think of half a dozen more adjectives.
So why, then, talk about change during Advent, a season that culminates in what is probably the single most tradition-laden, timeless, warm-and-fuzzy, we-always-do-it-this-way holiday of the year? Because underneath the traditional hymns, the decorations, the anticipation and all that makes Advent familiar is a seldom acknowledged truth: Advent is not a celebration of the road to the manger; it is a warning that ahead of us is the road to the Cross.
Yours in Christ,
Bill
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