Dear ones of St. Columba's,

 Happy New Year! This Sunday is the beginning of Advent, the beginning of the church year. The way we do our new church year is, well, it's pretty different than most of our secular New Year's celebrations. Advent also stands in stark contrast to the secular holiday season which happens in our culture at the same time - you know the "Christmas" season that is all about lights and shopping, and parties and feasts. Don't get me wrong, I love New Year's Eve parties and Andrew is hard at work even now hanging Christmas lights on our house and pulling all of our Christmas decor out of storage. These are good things, but they are different and distinct from Advent and the new year of the Church. 

Advent, for us, is a time of preparation and expectation. We get ready for Jesus to arrive, for his "advent" both in the Christ Child on Christmas Day, and his future coming, something that we live in expectation for. So, how do we get ready for Jesus?

This is a question each of us is encouraged to ask, to sit with, and to discern during the next four weeks. This is the work of longing, of imagination, and of patience. One answer (of many!) to this question is that we can come close to God and to each other, as we wait and as we get ready for Jesus to arrive on Christmas Day, at the end of time, and also every day, in some way. 

Here at St. Columba's one way we will be incarnating this answer, this coming close, is in our main worship space. We are in the habit of marking the new church year with a change in space - doing something different with our beautiful flexible worship space that reorients us to God and each other in some way. This year we are coming close, to get ready. When you get to church this Sunday you will notice that our usual seating sections are still there, but they are all closer to the altar, and to each other. This Advent we are going to lean in to the Mystery that lives in the center of our worship life by moving a little closer to the physical center of our space.  

My guess is that some of us will love this shift. I, for one, am looking forward to being closer to all of you as we pray the Eucharist. I am also expecting that for others among us, it might feel a little too close, a little uncomfortable. (Don't worry, there are still back rows!) Either way, I hope you will join me in noticing how this shift in physical space affects your experience of getting ready for Jesus this Advent. Our gospel for the first Sunday of Advent encourages us to stay awake, and be ready. My hope is that this small change in how close we are to the center of our worship space will help us stay alert to God and each other during this season - one of many ways for us to get ready for Jesus, together.

With care and gratitude,

Alissa