In the midst of feverish pre-Christmas activities and demands, a gift awaits us, waiting.  Waiting can feel annoying, frustrating, something that blocks our way; however, the season of Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, invites us to embrace waiting as means to spiritual growth.  The voice of the Psalmist resounds:

“My soul waits for the Lord

more than those who watch for the morning,

more than those who watch for the morning.

Psalm 130:6

Like the Psalmist, we trust in God’s steadfast love and power to deliver.  Advent waiting is not passive.  We enter more intentionally into God’s time.  We are able to welcome waiting as a gift.  In the Bible, salvation is always about freedom from bondage and deliverance into the fullness of life that God intends.  This workshop invites us to marvel at the fresh experiences of new life that are free to emerge even in our waiting!

Through reflection, discussion and prayer, each session will explore a different dimension of Advent waiting:

• Session 1, Anticipation (Nov. 28): Our lives and the world around us are pregnant with God’s promises. We will take care to locate ourselves sensitively in the ongoing story of salvation.  There will be room to articulate hopes, yearnings, and heartfelt prayers. (Click here to register for session 1 only.)
• Session 2, Attention (Dec. 5): In the infancy narratives of the gospels, God acts powerfully long before the world notices. We will join Mary, Joseph, field workers and immigrants in being attentive to the astonishing ways God is acting even now. (Click here to register here for session 2 only.)
• Session 3, Preparation (Dec. 12): We will make room to host new life, each of us preparing a deeply human “welcome house” that reflects the grace of our own histories. (Click here to register for session 3 only.)
• Session 4, Celebration (Dec. 19): What dimensions of freedom, transformation and healing is God offering us as we are entrusted with the life of Jesus?
  • The freedom to love another person, even when things seem to be going wrong?
  • The freedom to live with integrity?
  • The freedom to discern a third choice, one not driven by fear or coercion?
  • The freedom to heal?
  • The freedom to accept being loved?

Celebration of these freedoms will be essential for life in a community “on the way.”  Our own lives are already becoming testimony to God’s salvation being revealed. (Click here to register for Session 4 only.)

Each session stands independently.  Come to as many as you are able.