First Sunday of Advent: Hope (in the Kingdom)
It's the season of Advent, anticipating the remembrance of Jesus' earth birth. To be honest, I'm pretty obtuse when it comes to traditional seasonal observations like this. I know there are symbolic candles involved, but what they symbolize always escapes me. As it turns out, this first one represents "hope". There is a song written by Jon Foreman about hope as "the anthem of my soul". A few poignant lyrics go: Hope's a seed you have to sow When you let it go it comes to life So you stretch your arrows on the bow And you pull them back and watch them fly My heartbeat, my oxygen My banner, my home My future, my song Your hope is the anthem of my soul Hope... a seed... the anthem of my soul. Jesus had a thing or two to say about seeds as well. In the Parable of the Growing Seed, Jesus explains that the Kingdom of Heaven (or as I like to say, God's Way) is like a seed. When you plant a seed, it's a necessary part of growing a plant, but its...