The Church calendar begins in the darkest days of the year, with the First Sunday of Advent. Advent encompasses the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, this year beginning on November 30. During this season of longing, we intentionally cultivate space for the light of Christ in the midst of darkness. It is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to treasure up and ponder all that is possible, in Christ.

As we enter Advent this year, many of us are feeling the darkness much more than the light. Our political, economic, and civic life seems increasingly marked by animosity, oppression, distress, and inequity. We are appalled at ICE raids, the undoing of social supports, and the incivility of public discourse. Some of us watch the news and listen to podcasts, alert for and reacting to every new threat; others of us feel checked out, overwhelmed by helplessness. And personally, we each carry griefs, questions and struggles.

In our Advent sermon series this year, Held by Longing, we will plumb the depths of our sorrow. But then, we’ll keep going. We’ll follow the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures in considering how our discouragement, overwhelm, and hopelessness can, like the North Star, hold us in light that guides us onward. Onward, to participate in Divine Love, which is capable of making all things new.

This devotional guide is meant as a companion for our community during this Advent season. For each week of Advent, you’ll find readings and meditations for families, friends, housemates and individuals to engage throughout this Advent season. Whether you use the Advent Wreath candle lighting liturgies, or the meditations, or both, we hope this devotional helps you create space and meaning during this season. Right in the midst of all our social turmoil, the weeks leading up to Christmas can add another layer of tension—a blur of activity and frivolity, but also of family tensions, tight budgets, high expectations and stressful schedules. Making intentional space to reflect, slow down, and be prayerfully present to Christ and loved ones can give us space to name the many tensions we hold, and to allow them to become creative invitations: animosity into peace; oppression into freedom; distress into healing; inequity into favor. In this season of darkness and light, may our very tensions invite us into the creative work of God with us—Emmanuel.