Advent Chapel

Seminary Chapel for Advent is offered twice this week. It so happens I am meeting with my spiritual mentor one of those days, and I can stay afterwards to attend. What joy! How often does one have the opportunity to worship with a dozen or more pastors!

The chapel is intimate, cozy, filled with comforting icons of things peace-filled, uplifting, Godly. The space invites breathing and slowing down, opening one's heart for things eternal. Especially during what can often be a hectic holiday season, it is important to intentionally slow down and check in with things important. I welcome the time of silence as we gather our thoughts and hearts.

We slowly read Scripture about the coming Christ. We light a candle to remind ourselves that Christ is the light of the world. We sing together - what a rare treat to hear so many men, their deep resonance reverberating off the walls and windows. I stop singing myself just to listen. It's better than my CD of the Seminary men's choir (not from our seminary).

We pray together, for our concerns and joys, for our community, for global issues. My head lifts out of my own situation. In perspective, I have it easy. I give thanks for the goodness of God so evident in my life. We linger there in the presence of God and each other pervaded by the thoughts of others, of the world, of the saving work of the tiny baby who came to relieve the suffering and hardships of all.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. We sing a final hymn and quietly make our way back out into the crazy hectic world from which we stepped aside. We remember those who waited so long for the initial coming of Christ. We join those still waiting. In the midst of the hubbub, we remind ourselves of the return of Christ, a hope we hold dear in these uncertain days.