One of the hardest spiritual disciplines to maintain is that of waiting. As technology has sped up exponentially, we seem less able to cope with the inevitable delays that are simply part of daily life.  We have grown so accustomed to having instant access to the rest of the world - and the world having access to us - that we rarely give ourselves time to disconnect, take a step back, and remember what it feels like to just "be" a person, someone who is whole and holy, apart from everything and everyone else.   

Advent gives us permission to practice waiting, because Advent is all about time.  On the four Sundays of Advent this year we will hear prophecies from four Old Testament prophets: Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah, and Micah. Each of them speaks of a time yet to come, known only to God, when Israel will be delivered from its enemies to begin a new age of peace and prosperity.  The implicit message is that all of this will be accomplished in the fullness of time, and not right away, so that waiting becomes a way of life for the people of Israel.  They live, as we do, between the "now" and the "not yet" of human existence.  For Christians, this means that we live in-between the first coming of Jesus (child in a manger) and his second coming (when he shall come as king and judge of all).  We do not know when Jesus will again come among us, and so Advent moves us into a rhythm of watching and waiting, much like our spiritual ancestors. 

One of the most profound experiences that I have of watching and waiting happens at our 4:30 family service on Christmas Eve.  There is a constant buzz of activity from the dozens of children who are present (whose long wait for the magic of Christmas morning is almost over...), along with lots of deep breaths from parents who are hoping just to make it until Christmas morning...and then the time comes for the reading of the Christmas story, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke.  On the occasions when I have read this gospel during the liturgy, I have become acutely aware of the adults all around me.  I can look up and see their faces leaning in to catch every word of this precious story.  And then I remember that the Christmas story speaks directly to the hearts of adults in ways that children cannot yet imagine.  We who are "wearied by the changes and chances of this life" (in words from our prayer book) are desperate to find fresh hope in a world that has gone mad.  And so our watching and waiting, which so often seem in vain, are this night rewarded with the truth about God and ourselves, truth that begins in a manger and lives beyond the cross.   

The truth that is revealed in the Christmas story cannot be captured by rational thought, nor can it be "spun" to fit a political or religious agenda.  It is simply meant as a gift for anyone who will receive it, and, once received, it becomes the standard by which all other truths in our lives are measured.  May your Advent watching and waiting prepare you to hear the Christmas story once again, and may God's grace open your heart to its truth.

The Rev. Lu-Anne Conner

Pastoral Care News 

If you, or a friend, or member of your family goes to the hospital... 

Visiting parishioners who are hospitalized is a priority for clergy and lay chaplains.  Currently, no hospital notifies us when you register.  Even if they ask to which church you belong, they use that information only for their internal records.  It would be a great help to us if you or a friend or family member let us know when you are going to be in the hospital. 

If you are at home but unable to come to church, we would very much like to bring communion to you.  There is a special, and very brief, service for communion at home which uses bread and wine consecrated at a regular service at St. Elizabeth's.  John Hartnett and I have celebrated this service with a great many of our parishioners at their homes or hospital rooms, and we offer it as a reminder that nothing separates us from the love of God, nor does absence remove us from the fellowship of the congregation.

LAC

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Adult Sponsors for Next Year's Confirmands:  Just Say Yes   

Each member of next year's 8th grade Confirmation Class will have a sponsor who is an adult, not a member of their family, and active at St. Elizabeth's. 

I have two hopes for the sponsor-confirmand partnership.  First, I hope that every young person at St. Elizabeth's will have an adult in our community outside their immediate family, and in addition to the clergy, with whom they can have serious conversations, especially about issues they might be reluctant to raise at home.  A sponsor is not a substitute parent, but an additional trustworthy adult. 

My second hope is that the sponsor will help the confirmand to develop a sense of membership in the congregation in their own right and not simply as an extension of their parents.  A sponsor is a mentor in full membership in a church and in a mature understanding of the commitments of an adult Christian. 

The incorporation of sponsors is part of our plan to make Confirmation not so much the last year of Church School as a transitional year from being in the congregation as a child to being in it as an adult.  Students will choose between a number of roles with adult responsibilities, and the sponsors will help serve as coaches and mentors in that work.  So if someone asks you to be a sponsor, please say yes!  For more information about being a sponsor, including some very specific suggestions of ways to support the member of the class whom you sponsor, please call me.. 

LAC