Yet the beauty of it is learning that all of those pieces, even the painful ones, fit perfectly together to create the masterpiece that is me. Stories, pain, conflict, joy, resilience, creativity, courage, and even anger have all brushed their unique strokes and colors onto the canvas of my life and invite me into an opportunity to become whole as I welcome all of the pieces of myself.
The God of Advent is not a God of wealth, privilege, or status. The God of Advent is lowly–identifying with a forsaken place of our world.
How can we find peace and hope in the midst of the realities of relationships, anxieties, and responsibilities? Where is the joy?
But also within the last year, amidst God’s bride acting less than holy, God has reminded me along the way that my hope and joy truly are found in him.
This holiday season, may we rest in the knowledge that the God we worship is not one who is intimidated by our suffering.
What if the problem is not our perceived foreignness at all, but our perpetual propensity to play the game? Maybe the way out of this perception is not ultimate economic empowerment, but a transfigured desire that perpetuates the possibility inherent in the empty space of Advent.