As we prepare to celebrate the Advent season, Rev. Allison Wehrung shares a glimpse into this year’s theme for UKirk’s Words for Waiting, a series of daily devotions for the seasons of Advent and Christmas.
As we prepared for this devotional, I kept coming back to the phrase Keep Awake. These days we have access to a never-ending stream of news, notifications, and reminders of the brokenness of our world. It can be tempting to tune out – to shut down, disengage – from pure exhaustion or for the sake of self-preservation. Honoring those true experiences, and still hoping for a more life-giving way forward, what are the voices that should have our attention? How can we sift through the noise to figure out and focus on what’s really important? Where might we find the energy to continue doing the work that needs to be done?
The reflections and prayers on these pages offer the chance to dig into those questions and more. This year’s contributors represent 38 faith communities in 21 different states, including 25 college ministries serving students on 32 campuses.
As we all seek to wake up our hearts and minds to the meaning of this season, may you find inspiration in the words and images on these pages, and in these days to come.
In hope,
Rev. Allison Wehrung
Editor | Campus Minister, UKirk Ole Miss
Words for Waiting is available as daily blog posts on ukirkadvent.org where you can also sign up to receive daily emails, are shared each day in the UKirk app under UKirk Daily, and are also in a printable, pdf format found here.