Advent Devotional

Introduction

Most of our liturgical seasons this year have been observed under the massive and
unwieldy umbrella of pandemic. Remember way back in Lent when we thought that
we’d back to normal by Pentecost? Yet here we are, entering into the start of a new
liturgical year, stepping into Advent—a season when we are told to wait, and yet it
feels like that’s all we’ve done since the third Sunday in Lent. How much more waiting
can we do? This year presents special challenges and unexpected insight into our
traditions, and I invite you to come into this season of Advent holding all of the deep
complexities we are steeped in, not trying to bypass the realities of the grief, anxiety,
and longing we’ve experienced, but honoring the ways these elements are woven
into our journey with God.
This devotional has been lovingly prepared for you with the words and reflections
from 15 individuals in the Sequoia Association of the Northern California Nevada
Conference (as well as a few folks who are friends of the Sequoia Association). It is a
uniquely 2020 devotional, it honors the tension of living through a pandemic in a time
of social turbulence while looking, waiting, and expecting the hope and joy that
comes to us at Christmas.
It is organized into four sections: Dreaming, Longing, Imagining, Discovering. Each
day has a Biblical text to accompany the devotional selection. It is my sincerest hope
that this devotional will offer you a deeper connection to the Divine, and with words
written by members in our own communities of faith, that it will also foster a
connection to one another.
This has been a long, difficult, and isolating time, and yet we are connected by our
faith in Jesus Christ.
May you have a blessed Advent and Christmas.
Warmly,
Kim Williams—Editor
Lay Minister, Grace Community Church

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