This year’s advent wreath is intentionally simplified and portable. A space on the dresser had to be cleared for it, as every flat surface is covered in stuff while we prepare for our impending departure.
Candle one (hope) was lit two days late. Candle two (peace) will also be lit here in West Virginia. Candle three (joy) will be lit in DC as we reunite with family and friends. Candle four (love) and the Christ child candle will be lit in our new home in Azerbaijan.
As this advent season begins, I sense a kinship across the centuries, with that first advent journey undertaken to Bethlehem, but also with the journey of believers throughout time. From unknowing to knowing, from hope to love, from the kingdom being here to the kingdom arriving.
Christmas remains my favorite holiday, despite the crucial nature of the crucifixion and resurrection, because it’s harder for me to conceive a greater miracle than Emmanuel, God with us. It all looks forward to those moments of redemption and victory, but this is the moment that God viscerally steps into the stage of human drama.
Emmanuel, God with us. In Bethlehem. In West Virginia. In Azerbaijan. Wherever you are.