Note from Pastor Jana “A thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices…” Has this lyric ever struck you as odd? A weary world rejoices?! The line in question here arises from a familiar Christmas hymn, “O Holy Night.” To be weary is to feel or to show tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep. I would argue that the “excessive exertion” is often not so much physical exertion, but even more so the mental and emotional exertion so many are dealing with on a day-to- day basis. Perhaps many of us live with the myth that joy is not something we deserve—or that it is wholly out of reach. But our joy is rooted in the truth that we belong to God. Can you tether yourself to that deep truth? You deserve to feel joy—fully. The world needs your joy, even if you are weary. Our joy is better when it is shared. The headlines are looking grim: War. Increase in hunger and food insecurity. Mental health issues on the rise. Continued increase in violence. And those are just the national/global headlines. Marital/relationship issues. Family conflict. Health scares and diagnoses. We can’t help wonder from time to time: How does a weary world rejoice? This year the season of Advent begins on Sunday, December 3, 2023. Our worship series this Advent is titled: “How Does a Weary World Rejoice?” We will be taking a dive into the Gospel of Luke to address this very question. From the opening chapters of Luke’s Gospel, we will find a few answers: we acknowledge our weariness, we find joy in connection, we allow ourselves to be amazed, we sing stories of hope, we make room, we root ourselves in ritual, and most importantly, we trust our belovedness. In the parallel birth stories of Jesus and John, joy arrives—despite trepidation, fear, or grief. In these stories, we find rhythms for rejoicing. As we move through our series, we hope to create space for acknowledging the weariness of our world while celebrating God’s closeness with great joy. And so, this Advent, we will hold space for our weariness and our joy. We will seek a “thrill of hope” in our hurting world. We will welcome joy—even if, like the prophet Isaiah, we cry out for comfort (Isaiah 40:1). In this weary world, may we find many ways to rejoice. In Christ, Pastor Jana
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