A Note From Pastor Andrew
Greetings, FLC!
It’s fall – or is it? The warm (and dry) weather of this past month has made the changing of the seasons feel quite different than normal. Though winter is still on its way, the fall weather usually reminds us that the calendar year is coming to a close. But in the church’s liturgical calendar, the year is just beginning. Next month will bring Advent, the first season of our liturgical cycle. This year, as the days shorten and we experience more darkness, we will consider how God is with us in the darkness – therefore, even the darkness can be holy.
I can remember having a seminary teacher who, just before Christmas Eve, told us that if we were helping lead any Christmas Eve services, make sure to take a look out at the congregation during the candlelight singing of Silent Night. Well, that year, I did just that and it was a very serene and holy moment I think of now every year as we come closer to Advent. Because Advent is also about the light shining in the darkness. For many, there feels a present darkness over our land. It would be reasonable to join in the anxiety and lament of days gone by, but as Christians we follow Christ into the kind of expression of faith that Paul states as “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Cor. 6:10). Paul often finds the expression of faith in Christ as being in conflict with the manner in which the world exists.
So too, in this Advent season will we be present in the darkness, rejoicing in the coming light of Christ. We will find ourselves again lighting our candles to sing Silent Night, a holy moment in the dark of night, a moment of faith – the light of Christ shining within us for another year.
May the peace of Christ guard your hearts,
Pr. Andrew
Read more from the November newsletter and previous newsletters. Also visit the Calendar page to know more about Faith Lutheran Church in Columbus, Wisconsin.