“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us.”

– a quote from Henri Nouwen

The second Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Peace. I am wondering if people are feeling peaceful these days. The challenge of peace in a chaotic world was also the challenge in the days of the prophet Isaiah. His cry is for God to bring comfort to God’s people. Isaiah’s prophetic voice rings loud and clear for us today. God did not send COVID-19 to test our faith or punish us. God did not send this disease to us. However, God is present in our midst. God has not withdrawn from us. If we are to find peace in this chaotic season, we must be that peace to all. And we might just find that peace as we engage in deeper relationships with one another and with God.

Mark’s Gospel reading for this first week of Advent says, “Keep awake.” Between the pandemic and economic, social, political, and religious turmoil, there are lots of reasons to stay awake. But is anyone really getting a good night’s sleep? Are we awake for all the wrong reasons? Do we keep alert for things that are out of our control? The Gospel challenges us to be on high alert, for God is still at work. This is our promised hope. We need to “keep awake” so we do not miss what God is doing in our lives and in the world.

2020 has been a year that we all might just want to forget. It has been a year of arguments, war, social inequities, racism, political unrest, violence, and disease. It has been a year of the unknown and making up answers as we go. And it has also been a year of new things, new opportunities to be the disciples we are called to be and hope. Together, people of God have sought hope during apparent darkness.