3 Wondrous Ways to Rediscover Hope This Advent

This is the time of the year for decorations, for singing, for gatherings of family and friends.

Except this year, when much of our normal Advent season seems anything but. With everything going on in our world today, “joy to the world” doesn’t seem to make much sense – until we remember the manger.

Where is the hope of Advent? I find it in three things:

1. Bending low.

A few years ago, one of our churches arranged its manger scene a little differently than usual. I posted a photo of it on Twitter, adding, “You actually have to be able to bend down low to see the baby Jesus. That’s how it is most of the time.”

You see, Jesus is not always in view. What is in view are the headlines, the latest news story, the next phone call. Even for those of us who call ourselves Christians, Jesus often stands outside of our consciousness.

With all 2020 has brought us, we need frequent reminders of what is truly real.

For me, hope comes across especially in the Christmas carols. I need their admonitions that despite everything, the child in the manger is the light in an increasingly dark world.

2. Standing tall.

You see, Jesus promises that when we gather in his name, the Holy Spirit is present here in our midst. Not only are we adoring a babe in a manger, but our great God and Savior Jesus Christ is moving among us.

He is touching our hearts to remind us who we really are as believers:  sons and daughters of God who have every right to both kneel before the Savior and to stand tall in the face of injustice and oppression.

3. Saying yes.

Advent reminds us that we are invited not merely to observe the miracle but to partake of it by saying yes. Bowing low to see Jesus is, in fact, an invitation to a different way of life, a new reality.

This is the hope of Advent. And as we share this hope, we bring light and life to a watching world.

This article was originally published in the December 2020 edition of Cross+Links, the electronic newsletter of The Daughters of the King.