It can be argued that Advent, more than any other season of the church year, is immediately relevant to our concrete lives as individuals, to the concrete life of the church under stress, and to the concrete headlines in the newspaper. The reason for that is that Advent tells us about our own lives as Christians, here and now. Advent is where we live, work, play, laugh, struggle, and die. Advent is the Time Between —between the first coming of Christ and the second coming, between darkness and dawn, between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. It is not the time of fulfillment; it is the time of waiting. It is not the time of seeing face-to-face; it is the time of seeing ‘through a glass, darkly’ (1 Cor. 13:12). It is not the time of triumphant victory; it is the time of bearing the cross.
To help us through this Time Between, we offer the following reflections shared by the gathered community at Grove Park. You can interact with our reflections in several different ways. You can pick up a printed copy of the Advent Devotional booklet from Grove Park, or you can download it here. You can also click the links below to read each day’s reflection online and to listen to a recording of the carol being sung by another member of the Grove Park community. If you prefer, you can pick up a set of CD’s containing all the Advent recordings. Whatever format you prefer, we encourage you to tarry with each devotion and listen for the voice of God in both the singing of the carol and in the reflection offered.