Dear Foothills Family,

Advent is a season of returning. Many of us feel the tug to reclaim what was given up in our youth. We individually and culturally have a yearning to return to—if not the way it was—then the way it should have been.

John the Baptist appealed to the same yearning for the way it was: “The word of God came to John...in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

John headed a popular movement of people who had a feeling that if only they could just get their religious values straightened out, if they could get back to the roots of their faith, they would free themselves of the oppression of the Romans. God would reestablish the Davidic kingdom, and Israel could reclaim its independence and identity.

In the spiritual life, as in historical reality, we can’t go back to what doesn’t exist anymore. The past is the past. It is gone. We can’t reclaim it—not even in memory—because memory is our present interpretation of what we thought was in the past, and some of us are very creative interpreters!

There is a way to redeem our past, and that is to commit ourselves to the future. That can feel frightening and dangerous because we don’t fully know what to expect!

John quotes Isaiah’s message to the exiles: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” They are returning to the old land, but a new thing is happening!

This is the redemptive message of the Advent. We are hearing an old story and we are interpreting it through our childhood memories, but we are facing a new situation.

Advent is the season of preparedness, encouraging us to do the work of repentance, of turning to the God of our future, in hope, faith—trust. It is a time to recognize our deep yearning for the pure life of the spirit that we have glimpsed in the past.

Advent is a reminder of the hard work of turning our attention from the comfortable memory of the past to the risk and danger and the opportunity of the future. It is a season to ponder who this one is from whom we wait.

It is a time for us to sing like the Psalmist: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion we were like those who dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad” (Psalm 126).

Repent! Rejoice! God is our future. Believe it! This is real.

Love to you and yours during this joyous season!

Duff and family