Happy New Year! ~ Rev. Jennifer Geary

I woke up this morning to a very red sky and thought “oh, no, a storm”. I clicked the weather app on my phone, which didn’t show any storms at all. Hm, which do I trust, the sky or the Weather Channel? From where do I get information on which to base my daily decisions? Who are the prophets of our time? We began the Christian Year in November, listening to the prophets tell us about the coming Messiah. We just celebrated the birth of Jesus that was broadcast to the world through signs and wonders. What are the signs of our time?

Are you hopeful? There are some signs of decline and fears of loss, but God’s app gives us possibilities and promises. We can pick any day of the year to say it is a day of new beginnings – an anniversary of a birth or death, of a marriage beginning or ending, of a career change. We can pick every day to start anew. As I’ve talked with many of you, we’ve discussed a general malaise, an exhaustion from big outside-us events, sucking up our energy. I invite us to gather during this month to recharge and reconnect with the hope of the Christ child.

Come be in the sanctuary, surrounded by God’s comforting love, and feel the regeneration in your spirit that the plants and trees are, right now, feeling in their roots and stems, even as their bare branches clatter in the wind. Together let’s see the signs of hope. Together, let’s be gentle and compassionate with each other and the world, as we find our way into the new season of faith.  Together, let us prepare for what God has planned next for us.

Read the full edition of the January Spire here.