December 2007 - Advent Expectancy

Advent Expectancy

From the Executive Director, The Rev. Anne S. Howard

I’ve been reading lots of church newsletters this month with wise but predictable counsel from pastors telling us to step aside from the commercial frenzy of an American Christmas and take time for silence and reflection. I’ve offered that same kind of counsel in several Advent sermons and newsletters over the past years. But not this year.

This year, I sense a different need, a different kind of energy pulsing through these short December days. I’m all in favor of quiet, and relish it, but if indeed we are to quiet down this Advent season, it is not simply to escape the high anxiety of this holiday season. It is not to hide from hectic activity. Not at all.

What I am hearing this Advent, in the moments of quiet and in even in the crush of the season, is that “still small voice” that Elijah heard from his mountain cave retreat. That Voice speaks through the stories of this season, from Isaiah’s call to beat swords into plowshares, spears into pruning forks, and make war no more, to feisty Mary’s Magnificat calling for the proud to be brought down from their thrones, the lowly lifted up, and the hungry filled.

In these ancient words a trumpet sounds for justice and a drumbeat rallies us to action in this world of ours that is both warming and warring. This season of preparation for New Birth calls us to reflect and to act out of that reflection in a manner that would honor the One called the Prince of Peace.

Eighty five seminary students, faculty members, and alums joined or renewed their membership with The Beatitudes Society this fall during our first annual membership campaign. These emerging leaders are not only learning how, but are teaching us how, to reflect and act out that reflection this advent season. Yale Divinity Students gather monthly to share a simple meal and reflect on The Beatitudes. Iliff members discern together how they will act out their interpretation of caring for “the least of these”. And Lutheran Theological School in Philadelphia is working toward peace, like Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Al Gore, by greening up their campus.

So, in this season of preparation, I hope each of you will find a way to act for the least among us, not only with a gesture of Christmas generosity for those in need today, but with a daring pledge for tomorrow’s leaders. Our chapters are growing; help us support them in their growth. And we are working now to provide 18 students of The Beatitudes Society with life-changing Summer Fellowships in 2008 that will enable them to “practice what Jesus preached” and equip them to be advocates for peace, for the poor, and for the planet. Click HERE to make a difference in these students’ lives, and in our world. Thank you.

In God’s Peace and Joy,

Anne

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