God is present, even in things that seem strange, disappointing or even threatening. In all things God will bless you– but also use you for God’s purposes of justice and mercy.

Advent promises God’s radical re-modeling of this world into a place of justice. That may seem like a great task, but we are given gifts to be part of it: when we practice mercy, we build a new world.

Advent calls us to repent in preparation for Christ’s coming: not to hide our faults so we’re accepted, but to change our hearts so we shine with God’s light, so we become the people we’re created to be and bear the fruits of love.

Advent is upon us. Even in the deepest darkness we do not despair: if we open the eyes of our hearts God helps us learn to see signs of hope.

Darkness and chaos can sometimes seem overpowering. But God’s love is light that transforms the darkness. God calls us to be that light.

On All Saints Sunday we see death as a container for life, highlighting the blessing of life that comes not from human effort but from God’s grace. We open our hearts to live as saints with such grace.

When Jesus invited himself into Zacchaeus’s life he invited Zacchaeus into a new life. That new life is open to us, too.

When we cry for mercy we’re not asking an angry God to avoid punishing us; we’re opening ourselves to the gentle grace God has for us that we need so deeply. God’s mercy doesn’t depend on our merit, but only on God’s love.