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A virus that could cause intermittent pandemic conditions forever. Changes in climate that could irrevocably alter what it looks like to live on our planet. This month, we enter anew into Advent, which is often described as a time of waiting: but what are we waiting for this year? In this first session of our eco-spiritual Advent series, we will draw wisdom from two sources: the traditional Christmas story, which tells us that the Incarnation was also a moment that changed human history forever, and the deep time of cosmic history, which has been full of turning points that are not often incorporated into our religious narratives. How we understand time and history will impact everything from how we cope spiritually with crisis to how we await God’s coming this year at Christmas — to how we inhabit the present moment, day to day.

The Waiting Earth Series

This year’s observation of Advent comes at a time unlike any other in history: we are reckoning not only with the legacy of a traumatic global pandemic but with a climate crisis that is calling into question the future of the planet and its fragile web of life. Yet Madeleine L’Engle suggests, in a poem, that “it was a time like this” that Jesus was born, a time of the uncanny and the uncertain. What wisdom might we gain for our contemporary existence by meditating on this ancient Christian story? This series of four talks will explore connections between traditional Advent themes and eco-spiritual concepts, through which this seemingly idle season of winter cold and spiritual waiting can become the nourishing ground for a greater reverence for, and connectedness to, the earth and the Incarnate One.

• November 29 – Deep Time: Cosmic History and Advent Waiting
• December 6 – Birth Pains: The Vulnerable Child and the Fragile Web of Life
• December 13 – And Ransom Captive Israel: Active Hope and Eco-Justice
• December 20 – The Cosmic Christ: Seeing Creation, Seeing God

Each session stands independently, so come to as few or as many sessions as you wish.