In looking ahead to this Advent season, I was paging through the hymns assigned for the season. The words of “Each Winter as the Year Grows Older” (WOV #628) caught my attention. It is not a hymn that I’m familiar with, but it begins like this:
“Each winter as the year grows older,
we each grow older too.
The chill sets in a little colder;
the verities we knew seem shaken and untrue.”
:Now maybe I’m a little sensitive to the ‘growing older’ line, since so many have had to comment on my recent birthday, but the long dark nights and cold winds do seem to sink in a little quicker. The news of the day seldom provides much relief, and it is easy feel a little shaken by the events all around us.
So this season of hope and expectation could not be more welcome. I need to hear the promise again this year of ‘good news of a great joy that shall be to all the people’. We need to come together to sing, gather around the warmth of family and friends, share meals and celebrate to goodness of our God. We need to bask in the light of the promise that God’s love is Christ is enough to warm the coldest night, and mend the broken heart.
The hymn continues with this verse:
“Yet I believe beyond believing,
that life can spring from death;
that growth can flower from our grieving,
that we can catch our breath, and turn transfixed by faith.”
My friends, breathe in the goodness of our Lord and celebrate light, life and hope this season. Come together to celebrate, and share the blessings of this season with those who might still be feeling the cold and darkness closing in. Jesus comes to bring life, healing, and hope, and we need that this day, and every day.
Peace,
Pastor John Twiton
