Week 4: Saying YES to Stand With God.
At this point, it may feel like we've been attentive and patient for long enough. The days are short, the nights are long and dark and although we've been waiting...the light has not yet overcome the darkness. It's natural to be overwhelmed, to become impatient, to fall into a hole of anxiety and forget those hopeful reminders that were so clear in Week 1.
Like us, God has many reasons to be frustrated with humanity: to be concerned by our lack of care toward each other and toward this precious world in which we live. Like us, God has great reason to be uncertain about why we would even attempt to say YES in this world so full of fear, hatred and disparity. It only takes a cursory glance at the world news to be bombarded with unlimited examples of the brokenness and unfathomable darkness that surrounds us all-- threatening to overcome even the most hopeful. Answers seem complex and difficult, maybe too difficult to achieve.
And yet, God remains with us, even in times of doubt and uncertainty. God sits and waits with us, even in the brokenness and filth of fear in this world. Waiting is not a passive act. Love is not a simple task. Saying YES is not weakness. In fact, being open and attentive to God's presence in this world and saying YES to love and hope may just be one of the fiercest acts possible. Being open to signs of God's presence in this world and in our lives is not simple. It does not fit easily into our busy and forward-focused lives, and it asks that we look deeply into the world, seeking God.
After all, it was a teenage girl- in a world that grants little freedom and authority to women of any age- who had the strength to says YES and claim God's true strength in this world. Let us have the courage and strength of Mary as we navigate this world, so filled with darkness. Because God is with us.
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