Take a Moment

This week in Advent we light the second candle on the wreath. Many people forget that each candle has a theme. This weeks theme is faith. The readings reflect that as well. The passage from Isaiah talk about the coming of the Messiah. And in it we hear some pretty spectacular imagery. Lions will lie down with lambs, and the adder and the child will no longer seek each other out in hatred. These images if we look at the literally seem ignorant. How could this all happen? But when we read it from the contextual lense, it is saying that the coming Messiah will help bring in peace if only we have faith.

The Gospel talks about John the baptist quoting these images from Isaiah, and he is telling his followers that the Messiah is here but hasn’t presented himself yet. ( that’s the next chapter) But for what we have, it fits with the theme. He is telling his followers to not put their faith in him but the coming one the Messiah.

If we look at our world today, it is hard to have faith. We are bombarded with negativity, the holiday season is full of hustle and bustle, trying to get year end tasks done at work, planning family events and the news it is easy to see how that is overwhelming. But our faith asks us to slow down take a breather, and reflect on the coming of the Christ Child.

So are we going to heed the warnings and slow down, or continue in our hustle and bustle until there is no fun and life left in us. Take a moment, and think. Matt+