Hope in the Season of Advent

Melissa Reese

MA, LPC/A, NCC

12/9/2023

On the day this is posted, we are roughly one week into the Christian season of Advent, the beginning of the Christian year. Please don’t be confused, it is not quite Christmas, so don’t start counting your French hens, golden rings, or swimming swans just yet. Rather, the season of Advent is the four weeks leading up to the first day of Christmas. I love this season, the expectation, the preparation, and the joy of knowing that the Divine became incarnate as the Christ Child whose birth we celebrate on Christmas day.

But the joy and hopeful expectation are often a stark contrast to the pain and suffering we see in our world, communities, and even in our hearts and minds. We have a hard time reconciling that we can have hope when there is so much to be broken over. Hope does not ignore these things, rather it sees the brokenness more clearly and understands that while we celebrate Christ’s first coming, we are still living in the “not yet” of creation being fully restored.

So, what do we do with this? How do we, as Christians, care for our hearts and minds in light of this season? One place to start is by being honest with God about our pain and grief. The psalmists and the prophets set this example for us. But look, too, for the moments that demonstrate the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. These moments will encourage our hearts and train our minds to see hope fulfilled around us.

May the God of all hope bring your hearts and minds joy. May Jesus, our friend, and strong brother, be our guide, as we faithfully endure seasons of not yet. May the Holy Spirit be our Wonderful Counselor and sustain us with fresh eyes to see the goodness of God all around us.