This year I'm revisiting an advent study I've had for a while, mainly because what with one thing and another I haven't had a chance to invest in a new one; David Thomson's Christmas By Candlelight.
The first week is all about the Patriarchs - Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Moses specifically. Slightly oddly the Sunday readings don't have Bible passages so I helped myself to Hebrews 11:7-30.
To be honest, this idea of faith 'being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see' has taken on a new significance for me this year. The last twelve months have been almost completely devoid of certainty in any human sense, and in many ways of struggled to know what it is I'm hoping for. That's a tricky place to be.
On a lot of levels I've felt a sense of displacement - moving house twice in nine months didn't help with that - but in a weird way that's enabled me to become far more deeply aware of the people and places I do feel rooted in. Reading Hebrews I was very struck by the idea that Abraham 'when called to a place...obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going to' - that resonates with my experiences of the last year. But despite that I've had a very tangible sense that God has been alongside me, only showing me one step ahead, allowing me to experience new things and giving me space to reflect on their significance.
But my sense is that perhaps things have shifted. Perhaps I'm standing on the cusp of a more settled phase. My prayer is that over the course of advent I'll re-engage with God and together we'll see where things go...
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