Dear Friends,

As with many of you, the Christmas letters from friends and relatives are beginning to arrive in my mailbox (or inbox, since some are electronic). I always admire people who take the time to write these letters; I am not one of them and wish I were. These missives are like messenger birds that carry news of life beyond my own: good news, and some news that is not so good. News of adventurous trips and children blessed, along with stories of a difficult journey with Long Covid and a car accident followed by months of rehab. This year, I’m noticing that the news is a bit more subdued, not the former litany of glowing achievements and public honors, but instead a growing thread of humility and appreciation of small things. I’m wondering what this has to say to me as I ponder the arrival of Christ in my own life and ministry during this season of waiting and watching.

On this Third Sunday in Advent, we find John the Baptist questioning the very essence of his ministry. Now imprisoned by Herod, facing torture and probable death, John sends this plaintive message to Jesus: Are you the one? Or must we wait for another? Did I mistake the message? Or the messenger?

John had spent his life preaching in the wilderness, predicting a judgment on those who did not change their ways. Although he recognized Jesus as the promised one at his baptism, John must have wondered when Jesus was going to take action, bring on fire and sword to create God’s intended new order. John’s disciples confront Jesus with the question that all must ask: Are you the one? Is this the way?

Instead of providing a list of all his accomplishments, Jesus points away from himself: Some blind people now see, he says. A few of the lame now walk. The poor have a place at the table. Jesus reminds John’s followers that these are signs of God’s reign. The evidence is sparse and not at all that exciting. This new order seems to be spreading in small ways, through marginal people who reach out for help, and not through apocalyptic events that topple systems or punish the powerful. I wonder if John could hear this?

Then I open another Christmas letter, and find there good news of great joy, for one who had fallen is now able to walk, and another one has found a job that will pay her rent. Quietly, one at a time, good news ripples in beneath the constant noise of political discord, war, mass shootings and injustice that keeps us all in a state of fear and numbness. Perhaps this is exactly the good news I have been waiting for, I tell myself. Healing, repair, hope is being born, even in the most difficult and unlikely circumstances.

Maybe in this season of anticipation, I need to understand my expectations differently, and lean toward the hard places in my life that are being touched by grace. How about you?

In Christ,

Amelie