Blue Advent Service this Saturday

Let's face it: it's been a hard autumn for those of us who woke up on November 9th to find that Tangerine Man had been elected President. More recently, we've been watching him load his cabinet with the best Wall Street has to offer. North Korea is bloviating again, and now China threatens to give us trouble. Did I forget to mention Russia? It's probably just as well, since Tangerine Man and Volodya Putin seem to be best buds.

Am I worried about the state of the nation? you bet your ass I am.

Then there's the fact that not everyone becomes giddy with happiness this time of year. J's mother died on December 14th and my mother died on December 15th (not the same year, thank God!!), so this month is a downer anyway. Natural light is at its lowest for the year, a natural depressant for many people. In our parish, we have had several deaths, most recently a really tough one.

On the home front, our daughter has moved to Albany, NY. Our son is about to move to Sarasota, FL. Both these events are happy developments for them. For me ... maybe not so much. But it's the way of the world today.

For all who feel out of sorts and sad, St. John's is having a Blue Advent Service this coming Saturday evening at 6 PM, immediately following the regular Saturday night service. It will give us space to grieve whatever we're grieving, a place to admit that we're not at our finest at Christmas. And it will be a place where we can reflect on the return of the sun and the coming of the Son on the 25th.

So if you feel like a truck has run over your Christmas stocking, come on over to St. John's.

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