Look to the Rock

By Madeline Pantalena

Welcome, friends, to Advent. Our theme this year is “hope”—in all of its myriad forms.

After last weekend’s Annual Convention in Hartford, and Sunday’s “Celebration of the Spirit,” my sense of hope is off the charts. For those who were unable to join the 2,000 Episcopalians gathered to heard the Word and celebrate the Eucharist together, I highly recommend listening to Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon from last Sunday: https://www.episcopalct.org/news-and-events/annual-convention/2016/convention-live-stream/

Bishop Curry’s refrain from Isaiah 51:1, “look to the rock,” is a refrain I will return to over and over through this Advent season.

I will look to the rock, trying to slow down in a busy season.

I will look to the rock, as I wait for the return of Christ, the judge who will “arbitrate between many peoples” and teach them to “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks,” waiting for the day that “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)

I will look to the rock, the guiding example of how we as Christians must walk in love, loving as Christ loved us.

I will look to the rock, and hope.