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A NOTE FROM DAVID

 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

 It is hard to believe but this is my final newsletter to you all for 2024! This year has gone by so quickly and has been filled with much activity. I hope that as you reflect on the year past you will sense the   presence of the living God within and around you; it is my prayer that as you anticipate the year ahead you will sense that same presence pulling you forward to being the hands and feet of Christ in the world.

 While January marks the official New Year for the broader society, the Christian New Year begins in  December. The liturgical significance of this Christian New Year is Advent. This is the time we set aside to prepare for the incarnation of God, which is celebrated with the festival of the nativity at Christmas. Advent calls us as the people of God to pause and to observe. To observe God moving in and through the world in incarnate ways. The word incarnation means “becoming flesh.” Indeed, Jesus’ incarnation is marked by the holy mysteries of coming into the world with two dual realities: fully human and fully God.

 So many of the world religions look towards the heavens for deliverance and redemption. Indeed, we do, too. What makes Christianity unique, however, is that God chose to leave the heavenly realm to enter the earthly realm to make a new way of life known for God’s people—to love one another, to love justice, to love God.  This is the true meaning of Christmas and our broader Christian identity. We are incarnate ambassadors of a countercultural message—one that is not shaped by worldly values such as prestige or riches—but one that is shaped by love and mutuality.

 As we enter Advent and the Christmas season, which in our tradition is steeped in liturgical beauty, may we choose to live into the incarnational call of our Savior and heed the call to love as God loves in the flesh.

 With Christ’s grace, peace, and love,

 David