All Things New

There is a chill in the air, a harbinger of things to come. After a spectacular fall, the leaves are blowing every which way leaving barren trees to fend off the cold. Squirrels and chipmunks race around collecting whatever they can before the frigid weather comes in. And so we know that the season of darkness looms. Long before man put his mark on the seasons, naming them and building a calendar around them, humankind knew what lay ahead in the weather and for them because of signs in Creation. Likewise, humankind knew a Force greater than himself that empowered his world and created all things new.

Soon liturgical churches will mark the season of Advent, "a strange mixture of the already and the not yet," a season of waiting and watching for the Coming of Christ. Creation so obviously taught humankind that winter was the season in which to prepare for this greatest event of all of human history: God incarnate breaking into the human world making all things new. But before that can happen, Creation must hibernate into the womb of the earth in preparation for rebirth. And so the leaves fall off and die, the trees stand bare and brittle, the creatures of the land disappear into the woods and the forces of wind and cold prevail.

How will we prepare for this great event? Where are we looking for things to be made new? What parts of our lives need a season of hibernating? Take some time if you can to enjoy this beautiful song by Eliza King and listen to her words of renewal and hope not only for us but for all of Creation.