Second Sunday of Advent, Year C

For suffering for doing good is better, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.
~1 Peter 3:17
 
“I don’t go looking for trouble,” said Harry, nettled. “Trouble usually finds me.”
~Harry Potter in
Prisoner of Azkaban
 
The old adage about not seeking out trouble has been passed through generations in many societies. Harry Potter wasn’t the first to say it, by any means—nor the first to then pursue his troubles through the remainder of his adventures!
 
The thing is life has its troubles—no matter how hard we work to insulate ourselves from them. This seems to be the point of Peter’s letter to the church: You’re going to have trouble; it is a feature of life, so you might as well be doing something worthy of them. To receive a message from God or an angel, for example, rarely seems to offer blessing in any straightforward way. For Mary it will spell profound trouble—a double-edged sword of loss and her own soul pierced as well—but oh, what is gained!
 
The promise of Advent seems to be that if we have something worth troubling about, we just may find ourselves with more abundant stores of resilence, open to the possibility not of despair, but of joy. If there is a difference that faith and its purposefullness offers it may be that we find in our trouble the promise of meaning that sustains us and helps us (all) to thrive. Doesn’t it seem then, that we might as well double-down on the good?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings:  Isaiah 41:4-5, 8-10, 17-20 † Psalm 27:4-5, 7-10, 13-14 † 1 Peter 3:13-17 † Luke 1:26-38
 
 
About the Art: The art for this Advent season is shaped around the theme of “Many Pieces, One Story.” Each week the art will feature a quilt that holds meaning. Today’s image is of a baby quilt for Barbara and Scott Anderson’s first child Claire. They were living in Missouri at the time, away from family and long-time friends. A group of college friends sewed the quilt to welcome Claire into the world.

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