This week’s intro is written by Nathan Foster:

Dear Friends,

As Advent is once again upon us, I’m stuck with a familiar longing and frustration. 

I so appreciate the depth and beauty of the language, themes, songs and traditions we find in this season. I’d love for my heart to be filled with hopeful anticipation and exuberant joy. Oh, to be lost in holy ecstasy as I contemplate the wonderful mystery of Immanuel — God with us. 

But I’m not. Not even close. 

To be honest, I don’t really get Advent, at least in the way it seems others do. Nearly every year I feel like I’m missing something, like I just can’t seem to ​“do it right” — whatever that means.

This year, it doesn’t help matters that our world continues to feel unsettled, with grim prospects for the near future. 

In a sense, I relate more to the chaos Mary and Joseph must have felt than the singing choir of joyful angels.

For most of us, the continued disruptions to our life pale in comparison to riding a donkey nine months pregnant toward an uncertain future. It’s hard to imagine being so destitute that you’re grateful to give birth in an unsanitary and smelly barn, let alone laying a newborn in an animal trough.

I have found one thing helpful this year, which is actually the reason I asked Brian Morykon if I could write the digest this week. Some of you may remember a podcast episode Brian and I did about his process of creating a new album. The album is now out, and it’s stunning (you can stream it here). One of my favorite tracks is ​“Both Alive,” about the resurrection.

There’s been something helpful about starting at the end of the story. While listening to the song on repeat, I felt a strange shift in my thinking about Advent. Rather than lament another holiday season of disruptions to getting to have my own way, I can’t help but wonder if this Advent season may hold a unique opportunity to live into the messiness of life and discover a different connection to the nativity story.

And so, as we enter the liturgical dance of hope and aspiration, may the wonder and mystery of God incarnate remain a constant and reliable reality — a firm ground to nestle into. a