Advent - Reclaiming the darkness as a place of beginning

December 1st • First Sunday of Advent

Hope in the Shadows

Reclaiming the darkness as a place of beginning.

Yesterday, the calendar turned. While the world outside accelerates into a frenzy of consumption, bright lights, and forced cheer, the ancient rhythm of the church invites us to do something counter-cultural: Slow down. Enter the dark. Wait.

In progressive faith, we often speak of "light" as the ultimate good. But on this first day of Advent, we must honor the shadows. The seed cannot grow without the cover of soil. The womb requires darkness to knit together new life. Darkness is not the enemy of the light; it is the canvas of creation.

The theme of this first week is Hope. But this is not the passive optimism that says, "everything will be fine." It is the gritty, tenacious hope of those who look at a fractured world—at systems of oppression, at the loneliness of our neighbors, at the anxiety in our own hearts—and still dare to believe that a new world is possible.

We light the first candle not to banish the dark, but to sit with it. We acknowledge that we are waiting for a Love that is revolutionary, a Peace that disrupts the status quo, and a Joy that runs deeper than happiness.

A Liturgy for the First Day

"Divine Mystery, source of all shadow and all light,

On this first day of December, we silence the noise of the marketplace to hear the beat of our own hearts. We confess that we are tired of a world that values profit over people and power over compassion.

Grant us the courage to wait. Not in idleness, but in active anticipation.
May the flame we light burn away our cynicism.
May it warm the cold places in our communities.

Teach us that hope is a practice, not a feeling.
Come, O Wisdom, and show us the way.

Amen."

Advent Series 2025