"Every one of us is wired up to be a representative for God ... We're here to make a representation of God's love, God's wisdom, God's power, God's glory.  To paraphrase Jesus: "Let your light so shine that others see the glory of God through the activity, or the lens, of your life."  Shining that light isn't something that will happen to us; it can only happen through us." - Mary Manin Morrissey

Advent is a dance between darkness and light.  We find ourselves chasing after the daylight hours that were plentiful in the summer and early fall, languishing sometimes into the nine o'clock hour, but which are now flirty and gone by early evening.  I can't decide if we are busier in the winter or if there is just less time in the light to get things done.  Either way, the spiritual task of Advent is to clear away enough space within the ever-cluttered daylight and the darkness of the night to inhale and exhale, to breathe in the glory of this season: the smell of evergreens and crisp white clouds, the dampness of freshly fallen rain, and the promise of the magic that is Christmas.

I do not mean a sappy kind of magic, although I am all about the decorating and merry-making of the season.  I mean God's magic -  the magic that every year reminds us that we have a chance to engage in enduring change, to look for and be open to changes in ourselves and changes in our world.  Every year Advent is an invitation to snuggle down deep into a cozy blanket, with a warm cup of something in our hands and search our hearts for the light.  Mary Manin Morrissey reminds us that "shining (God's) light isn't something that will happen to us; it can only happen through us." 

So Advent really signifies the transition from searching for light on the outside to searching for light on the inside.  And when we find it, when we catch even the tiniest whisper of its presence - of God's presence - well, that is the magic of the season isn't it?

Welcome to this most magical season.  May it bless and surprise you with insight, creativity and wonder.

Rev. Curran Reichert