Here we are heading into the second week of advent. Perhaps you're feeling like the hustle and bustle is getting a little too real. 

So as we come to worship this week, let's slow down a bit. Instead of thinking about things that have yet to be done, let's focus on the people with whom we connect, whether in person, by note, phone, email, Zoom, or even in our memories. Let's take a moment to be grateful for the joy we experience because of those connections. 

Advent is a season of preparation and without discounting or burying sadness or grief, we can yet foster gratitude and joy.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday!

Peace,

Karin

Please join us immediately following the service for our Coffee Hour

(in-person in Trinity Court or online via Zoom).

"It's been a long day,

long enough to complain,

long enough to wine and dine my

disappointment,

to give weariness

keys to the house.

But then you get the giggles

dancing with the dog in the kitchen.

Paws-sliding, tail-wagging,

side-cramping giggles.

I can hear it from across the house.

Your joy burrows its way

through the cracks in my armor

and then we are both laughing,

gulping for joyous, electric air.

And that's when I know —

if you grab my hand,

if you ask me to dance,

if our weary human souls can

make room for connection,

then we will survive.

Joy will take root.

Love will keep

her keys to the house."

After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, “This is what the Lord has done for me in this time, when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”