The War of the Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

So the waiting, the longing, and build up is almost over. This Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Advent and it just so happens it is on the eve of the Great Feast of the Nativity in which we celebrate the incarnation of God. There are some things in life I can’t get to the bottom of, fathom, or wrap my brain around and we have arrived at one of them again during this season of Advent. Every time I start to write about God coming into the world and taking our flesh I feel like I have run out of words, metaphors, and stories to “get at it” in all its fullness, wonder, and glory. It is truly one of those things that “passes understanding.” So that which my brain can’t fully take in and describe in words—my heart sort of grasps in awe and wonder.We are at the time of year of which T. S. Eliot says,

"Signs are taken for wonders.  ‘We would see a sign!’

The word within a word, unable to speak a word,

Swaddled with darkness.  In the juvescence of the year

Came Christ the tiger" (Gerontion)

We will ponder Revelation 12 in worship on Sunday morning. In one chapter you have a story of the whole history of the world and the struggle we see around us everyday, and also in our own hearts. Our morning service will be somewhat briefer because we have Lessons and Carols at 5:00 that night. It will be a day to ponder Christ in word, sacrament, and song. I encourage you to invite your neighbors, family, and friends to our 5:00 service. Year in and year out this service has been a fitting culmination to the season of Advent. Just a reminder that we will have a nursery and you better arrive early to get a seat. So here is to the Incarnation of God! May we keep the feast of Christmas well!Blessings,Jim