Advent is one of my favorite seasons! It is the season of promised hope, and of expectations beginning to be fulfilled. How apropos that our construction phase is drawing to a close at exactly this time of year. Truly, “the hopes and fears of all the years” are about to be met as we finish the punchlists and move back into a transformed space.
It will be an extraordinary delight to be back “home” for the holidays. But we have been so gifted by the music department with Gray Auditorium and the Education Department for Knapp Hall. It will be hard to say goodbye to their hospitality and some of the amenities we’ve been able to enjoy while sojourning (no, there will not be cushy seats in the remodeled church. Sorry.) I thank the staff of those departments from the bottom of my heart, and also all of you who have worked extra hours on Sunday’s to make both spaces fit for our worship and faith development. Bless you!
As we move back in, let’s all remind each other that it may take some time to make friends with the new spaces and learn how best to use them. Par for the course in projects like this is that at first we will be awed by all that is fixed. Then, more than likely, we will need to spend time cranky and disappointed at what got fixed but in ways we don’t like. Following that interlude, we then can start the process of learning how to use all the new stuff (like it or not), like new kitchen equipment, audio stuff, etc. And don’t even mention trying to find spaces for all the stuff we had stored, but now for the life of us can’t remember why or where it came from.
All of which is to say that this wonderful Christmas gift that we have been waiting for is definitely labeled “Some Assembly Required.” We’ll have some work to do adjusting, tweaking, throwing tantrums and fits, celebrating and finally settling into the wonderful new possibilities our new space will afford.
Remind you of any other “assembly required gift?” Yep. Just like the long expected savior of the world came wrapped in dirty diapers and grew up to save the world in a way few people at the time could understand. Advent is not just a time of waiting for exactly what you want. It’s a time of working on the waiting in order to assemble the true gifts that often come with work to do.
Holy one, assemble us to be your gift in the world, and grant us all we need to be a living, loving embodiment of your Christ. And, P.S.: thank you for fixing the sanctuary light switches. You give the best gifts ever, Lord!
With Blessings for you and all your family this Christmastide,
Rev. Kent
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