In Advent what preparations should we make in our spiritual lives to allow us to embrace Christmas? Can we transcend the earthly darkness and reach toward the light?

But perhaps we can turn Dickens around and think of a winter of despair followed by a spring of hope. That’s what our Advent readings seem to be telling me this year, and that notion of a light at the end of the tunnel is very comforting. We wait for the birth of Jesus and we wait for a vaccine and to see our families and friends again. We wait, rather impatiently, but we must have hope.

During this holy season, despite the Covid virus, may you find peace and joy in your heart and experience the love and kindness we all receive from ST. Johns.

Gratitude, with a side of music.

Many of the things on my grateful list repeat, such as my family, but there are certainly more whimsical things that pop up from time to time…dark chocolate, silly seagulls that Olive chases on the beach, shows that make me laugh like Ted Lasso and Schitts Creek, Christmas lights, Café Kilim baristas. What’s on your list?

I AM GRATEFUL for a loving God, who has offered this time and place as an opportunity for growth..a reminder of how valuable our relationships are. They are our greatest treasure.

When I received Rob’s email asking me to write a Daily Reflection on gratitude, I was filled with, well, a deep sense of gratitude! I have been inspired and encouraged by the essays written by members of the St. John’s family during this trying and troubling year and am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to the cause.

I have found so much to be grateful for this holiday season. My family, friends, dogs, spending time in nature, delicious food, community. I hope that wherever you are this holiday, you see that whatever you are separated from, those places, people, things, you call home- they are always with you.

Let us reflect with gratitude on the happiness of the past, on this moment, and for the light at the end of the tunnel.

When I was seven years old, I am told, I started sitting down at that organ - picking out notes and attempting to teach myself to read music (with the Lowrey color-coded music left in the organ’s bench). I quickly found myself taking organ lessons with a graduate student in the University of Iowa’s Organ Department.

Maybe, because of how we need to give thanks and celebrate this year, we will create a new tradition or will be more grounded in focusing on how much love there is right around us.

Practice gratitude - - it makes you feel good! Pay it forward… Thanksgiving is the perfect season for showing your thanks. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.”

Many of these people I have yet to meet as I have been an 8 o'clocker for years. But they have found their way into my heart and I will search them out when we can gather again. God has showered me with blessings, I just had to stop and be still and listen for His voice in others.

The only way I will know is when I enter into dialogue with someone on the receiving end of racism and understand their perspective. It is only then that I can see the issue more clearly through a wider lens and become an effective participant in carrying on Jesus’ work in the world.