Advent

Only two more weeks in Switzerland before I leave for outreach in Africa. Time has gone by really quickly and I can't say that I feel fully

prepared for what's next, but I'm really excited. I've really enjoyed serving the students here and I've learned a lot about leadership, for sure. The past couple of weeks have been really important: on Relationships and on Worldview. Everyone has grown a lot since the beginning of this and I know that a lot more growth will take place during outreach.

It's the first Sunday of Advent today and winter is beautiful in Switzerland. While I won't be here for Christmas day, it is still so nice to be here for the season. I love how the warmest and kindest times of celebration take place in the coldest and darkest season of the year. I know that my idea and concept of Christmas is a product of Western culture, but I honestly believe that it is without coincidence. I feel that it represents so well the hope and the joy in the birth of Christ.

I was thinking, the other night, about the star of Bethlehem -- a shift in the cosmos when the Son took the form of a human being to bring hope on Heaven and Earth. The star was a sign from prophets of old to announce the coming of the messiah that the Jews were all waiting for -- which is the nature of advent. How odd it must have been for angels to look and see their Lord and King in the most humble and vulnerable state as a newborn infant. Yet there was such rejoicing, I have no doubt at all. They knew that the King had lost his children and that he had made a way to be with them again. This was the beginning of triumph over death -- the victory of perfect love. This is the perfect love that they already knew as God the creator. They could now look at his physical body that would connect him with his children in such a new way, as one of them. I wonder what they think about his love for us...I wonder if the birth of Christ was the first time that they may had begun to understand: when they saw how Man was intended to be - The Son of God, coming to take mankind from death. This joy is his and theirs. He rejoices in the humility and sacrifice of Christmas because he is a God without an ounce of pride or selfishness. I do believe that he wants us to partake in this and that many of the traditions that we have developed are to better aid us in having this understanding and this heart for him and each other. Has Christmas been over-commercialized? Absolutely. Still, though, I always see God in it, despite that side of things. Even the tradition of Advent is not from the Bible, but it is something that the church has developed to create that sense of anticipation, in remembering that first coming of Christ and anticipating the next.

Thank you so much for reading! email me at emkathey@gmail.com if you would like to support me or hear more about what I'm doing, through updates. I post pictures and brief updates on Instagram as well! @elvishem.

Thank you for reading!

-- Emily Kathey

#living #christmas #switzerland