Dear Friends,
We’ve finally reached the Season of Advent...and it feels as though we may have finally reached the beginning of winter as well. December is always an extraordinary time to be in New York City. Crowds gather around the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, the sidewalks are jammed with holiday shoppers, and the department store windows are decorated just so. Residents and visitors alike stop to stare at the thousands of lights which push back the cold winter darkness. When snowflakes begin to fall, it feels almost perfect.
We are waiting and watching for the miracle that is and is to come. All our holiday preparations are designed to help us to properly welcome the newborn Messiah. But sometimes our ambitions get the best of us. We can have too much travel...and too little rest. Too many Christmas cards...and too much baking...too much decorating...and too many gifts to buy... and far too many gifts to wrap!
I hope you will give yourself the gift of a less ambitious holiday this year. I hope you already know there is no such thing as a “perfect Christmas.” My advice? Spend a little more time in prayers of thanksgiving this December. Spend a little more time on the phone calling people you haven’t spoken to in ages. Spend a few more nights in church listening to the angels sing. Spend a little energy to help someone who is in need of your help. Invest a little time in healing an old family or business dispute by forgiving someone...or, by asking someone for their forgiveness.
God is coming to earth again and nothing will ever be the same. Don’t waste another precious moment of your life doing anything which keeps you from preparing for the New Reality.
Author and poet Madeleine L’Engle wrote in her poem, First Coming.
He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.
He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine.
He did not wait till hearts were pure.
In joy he came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
he came, and his Light would not go out.
He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.
We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!
Faithfully,
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, D.D.
Rector