I don’t know how you are feeling today, what you are going through, or what you have already gone through, but if you are going through challenging times like many people are right now I want you to know that you are not alone. Beyond this, I want you to know that if you are grieving or mourning today that Jesus says it is not only ok if you mourn but that you are blessed in your mourning.

We have encountered a variety of losses this past year. Things people had been looking forward to for many years such as high school or college graduations got moved online, anniversary trips postponed, sports seasons canceled, and more serious things such as loss of employment, foreclosure on homes, or death of loved ones.

Sometimes we believe if we have not suffered the greatest losses then we should just be thankful for what we have. While there is great merit in celebrating the blessings that we have, I also believe that to mourn a great achievement not being celebrated to it’s fullest, a cancellation of an event that you are looking forward to, or other things that have disrupted the normalcy in our lives is welcomed and invited.

I have some of these “smaller things” in my life that I miss such as sitting at a coffee shop and working on one of my messages, being able to sit in a movie theater and watch a movie I had been looking forward too, being able to gather with the full family during the holidays, and even my ordination had to be celebrated online. I know each of us has things in our lives that have been disrupted. I also know of people who do to the Coronavirus have lost spouses, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and others.

Some days we may try to keep busy so we don’t sit around and think about all the areas of our lives that have been affected, and other days we may have zero motivation to talk to anyone or do anything. This is also why this Advent season could be an especially powerful time for us. Right now we are dealing with a lot of silence and uncertainty, but I also know that we are not without hope and that the good is not only coming but that God is with us.

Advent season being a time when we wade into the quiet and unknown, but we also know that we soon will be celebrating the birth of our savior. Today, while we are encountering a lot of questions and doubts, we also hold onto the hope that we have in knowing that God is with us, Emmanuel! That Jesus one day will return again to restore and redeem all of God’s creation. So, my friends, I will not tell you to not grieve. It is o.k. to be sad, it is o.k. to mourn, and at the same time, I would urge you not to lose hope because a new dawn is coming on the horizon.