Kindred in Christ,

The season of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) invites us to consider something quite countercultural—the darkness is our friend. While well-lit spaces (literally and metaphorically) grant us a sense of security and control, Advent insists that there is beauty in the shadowy and unresolved experiences of our lives. Each week in Advent we only get to light one additional candle, a reminder that we must trust God as we move forward not seeing the full picture at first.

The above modern icon by Scott Ericson depicts The Annunciation to Mary by the Angle Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38). My favorite aspect of Ericson’s interpretation is the upside-down messenger, inviting Mary into an upside-down way of looking at the world.

Join us this Sunday as we continue our Advent Series, Shadow and Light!  And in the meantime, I invite you to meditate on the following Advent prayer:

Advent in the Dark (full version here)

We wait in the darkness,

expectantly, longingly, anxiously, thoughtfully.

The darkness is our friend.

In the darkness of the womb,

we have all been nurtured and protected.

In the darkness of the womb

the Christ-child was made ready for the journey into light.

It is only in the darkness

that we can see the splendor of the universe –

blankets of stars, the solitary glowings of the planets

…

Sometimes in the solitude of the darkness

our fears and concerns, our hopes, and visions

rise to the surface.

We come face to face with ourselves

and with the road that lies ahead of us.

And in that same darkness

we find companionship for the journey.

In that same darkness

we sometimes allow ourselves to wonder and worry

whether the human race is going to survive.

And then, in the darkness

we know that you are with us, O God,

yet still we await your coming.

In the darkness that contains both our hopelessness and our hope,

we watch for a sign of God’s hope.

For you are with us, O God,

in darkness and in light.

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

I love the holidays. I’m always up for a good celebration. And, like many children the crème de la crème for me growing up was always Christmas! Yet, as I became a young adult, I found myself increasingly disillusioned with the whole ordeal. While I still appreciated the lights, songs, sweets, and time with family, I began to find the holiday to be marked by consumerism, stress, and hurriedness. And then I discovered Advent!

The season of Advent, which begins this Sunday and leads up until Christmas is all about slowing down, and opening ourselves up to the mystery of Christ’s arrival in our world. Advent means “coming” in Latin, and these weeks are meant to prepare our hearts, minds, and souls for the arrival of God-with-us, Jesus Christ, born of Mary a couple of millennia ago. You’re supposed to feel the darkness of the wait—the anticipated arrival of something you want so badly but cannot see yet—and by feeling the wait deeply, you’ll be even more satisfied by the celebration of the arrival on Christmas Day.

Advent helped me rekindle my love and appreciation for Christmas but on a much deeper level. It helped me to realize that I need both darkness and light, knowing and unknowing, mystery and revelation in my spiritual life. I hope you will join us for our Advent worship series on shadow and light. It begins this Sunday on Facebook Live.

In the meantime, I want to share with you one of my favorite Advent prayers by Janet Morley. May it bless you during this season of both darkness and light.

For the darkness of waiting

of not knowing what is to come

of staying ready and quiet and attentive,

we praise you, O God:

For the darkness and the light

are both alike to you.

For the darkness of choosing

when you give us the moment

to speak, and act, and change,

and we cannot know what we have set in motion

but we still have to take the risk,

we praise you, O God:

For the darkness and the light

are both alike to you.

For the darkness of hoping

in a world which longs for you,

for the wrestling and laboring of all creation

for wholeness and justice and freedom,

we praise you, O God:

For the darkness and the light

are both alike to you.

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

During my time in seminary, I took a class on the book of Revelation by New Testament scholar, Dr. Osvaldo Vena. I grew up in a stream of the church that painstakingly tried to take this biblical text literally, and would often link its passages to end time predictions that they believed where unfolding on the evening news. One of the first things I learned from Dr. Vena is that the majority of the book is meant to be symbolic for it is written in the apocalyptic genre, known to depict fantastical beasts (like dragons and other characters common to Harry Potter) and cataclysmic scenarios in order to critique empire and help people imagine the coming of a better world. Along with being a brilliant scholar, Dr. Vena was also a musician. On our final session, he brought his guitar and led us in the popular 70s song, Imagine by John Lennon. While this song initially angered many Christians because of its lyrics inviting us to “imagine there’s no heaven,” Dr. Vena pointed out that John of Patmos (the author of Revelation) invites us to be dreamers of a similar world—one where heaven comes down to earth and there is no more injustice, divisions, and war (Revelation 21). Join us this Sunday as we conclude our series Dream Big, and explore further the kind of dreamers God may be calling us to be in our present time. I hope to see you in the comments on Facebook Live!

Rev. Paul Ortiz

As we near the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of a practice that my family and I began a couple of years ago. Each morning at breakfast, during the month of November, we begin our day by writing one thing that we are grateful for on a fall-colored-leaf and add it to our Gratitude Tree (see the picture above from my Instagram stories).

On some mornings this practice comes quit easily and natural to me, but other times (I have to confess) it feels a bit forced at first. For there are some days that I am stressed about work, down about the ongoing pandemic, or angry at the effects of systemic racism, that it is truly hard to be in a posture of gratitude.

And yet, when I continue to sit with the leaf in my hand and force myself to come up with something that I am truly thankful for in the midst of real-life struggle, it reminds me that while our present injustices and pain are true, they are not the whole truth. It reminds me that Christian gratitude is not one that turns a blind eye towards the brokenness of our world, but rather insists that God’s grace justice, mercy, and beauty are also present and emerging and we can choose to participate in that goodness.

Christian gratitude is one of the central ingredients that empowers us to not become bogged down by what is wrong in the present, and to dream big with God and help bring about God’s preferred future.

Join us this Sunday as we consider what it means to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), as we continue our worship series, Dream Big! We hope to see you in the comments on Facebook Live!

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Have you ever tried to count the stars?

Even if you have never literally attempted to count them all, I know that many in our church community enjoy observing the constellations and marveling at their expansiveness. Stars have a way of reminding us that while we are significant to God, we are but a small part of a much bigger story.

While at first this may be a bit of a hit to our personal egos (the reminder that I am not the center of the universe), it also has the capacity to bring pure spiritual joy. Looking up at the magnitude of the heavens reminds me that God notices me even in the mist of such an expansive creation, and it also reminds me that God also notices countless others who have also stared up at the stars. God’s story of redeeming love is both about me and more than just me. And when I lean into that seemingly paradoxical reality, my soul, faith and dreams expand.

This week, we will kick of our new worship series, which coincides with our pledge campaign, titled Dream Big! And we will begin by reflecting upon God asking Abram to count the stars in the night sky (Genesis 15). I hope you will join us!

Rev. Paul Ortiz