Tomorrow marks the beginning of Advent — the beginning of a new year in the church calendar and a time of both reflection and expectation.
Advent is a season of waiting — a threshold, or a liminal space. Stephen Milburn taught about liminal space in our “Seasons of the Soul” series this summer. During these times of liminal space, we are squeezed in the “in-between” – the previous season of life is gone, but the thing we’re waiting for is not here yet. Throughout the month-long season of Advent we wait for Christmas and the celebration of Jesus’ birth. And we reflect on the previous year. This space of reflecting and waiting – this threshold/liminal space – is a sacred space.
Most of the time in our busy lives and “now” culture we don’t have to wait — or at least we don’t have to wait very long. Advent forces us to wait. We can’t turn back time to a previous season and we can’t make the days until Christmas go faster.
For all of us in community at Platt Park Church we are entering into liminal space in both the season of Advent, and as we wait to see what God’s next season is for our church. With Susie and Tim’s announcement last weekend we have left a beautiful, well-known, beloved season of our church and we don’t yet know exactly what the next season looks like. But we do know our God. We know that He is strong and unshakeable and that He is not surprised. We know that He yearns for deeper connection with every single one of us. And we know that this season of Advent — similar to this season for our church — is a beautiful dichotomy. Advent is the beginning of a new year, but it is a beginning that is marked by waiting.
Our church is entering both a new year and a new season without Tim and Susie. But in this Advent season of reflecting, we celebrate the incredible legacy that Susie and Tim leave in this space. Their love and passion and gifts have helped create a community that truly shines with Jesus’ love and a church that allows everyone to enter into time with God — no matter where they are on their journey. What an incredible gift to us! What a beautiful legacy and story to tell of their faithfulness!
And while we wait for this new season to come to fruition, we can take a breath. We can stop. We can pray. And we can rest calmly in the arms of the One who holds the universe in His hands. And we can celebrate and receive the wonder and beauty of Advent.
“Advent is the whisper of a promise yet to be fulfilled,
the hushed excitement of a world awaiting the arrival of Love incarnate.”
— Emily P. Freeman