<div dir="ltr">I was moved today when reading Rev. Jason Myers sermon and reflection on Advent.<div>He is the minister at Metropolitan United Church where John and I were married when I was an elder there. It was the middle of advent and this minister was not yet born but he is doing a find service to the entire community at Church and Queen.</div><div><br></div><div>Enjoy!</div><div>Mary<br><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Met Advent Reflections</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:elisabethb@metunited.ca">elisabethb@metunited.ca</a>></span><br>Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2025 at 2:53 PM<br>Subject: Advent Reflections - An Invitation<br>To: Mary Elizabeth <<a href="mailto:maryemacmillan@gmail.com">maryemacmillan@gmail.com</a>><br></div><br><br><div class="msg-4723026435998127046"><u></u>
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<div style="text-align:center"><font color="#000000"><span style="font-size:20px"><strong>Advent Reflection, December 1 - The Rev. Jason Meyers</strong></span></font></div>
<div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:14px"><font color="#000000"><em>This is sample of the Advent Reflections where members of our community will reflect on the daily lectionary readings in this transformative time in the church year. <strong>You are not currently signed up,</strong> so if you would like to continue receiving this series each weekday until Dec 24th, please reply to this email and let Elisabeth in the church office know. If you do not wish to subscribe, you don’t need to do anything - this will be the last one you receive.</em></font></span></div>
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<p style="margin:10px 0;padding:0;color:#757575;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%;text-align:left"><span style="color:#000000"><em>For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man.</em> Matthew 24:38-39<br>
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Our <a href="https://metunited.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a14db74d40886e93ffb9d3d7&id=e48a5d0757&e=348171dcfe" style="color:#007c89;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">service yesterday</a></span><span style="color:#000000"> - the first Sunday of Advent - is always one of my favourite of the year. As I told Rev. Bill before we processed in with the choir: "this is one of those days where the liturgy is like a wave, and all we need to do is ride it." The old stories told afresh in word and song, the flicker of new light even in the growing darkness, the deep theology of incarnation expected, the embodied act of remembrance in Eucharist - what a wave it was! And then after the service, many of us continued to ride the wave out into the neighbourhood to our new pub-home, McVeigh's, where the church formed again through the sharing of food and fellowship, with the trad-Celtic tunes keeping the beat in the background. All very good!<br>
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But here's the thing about waves... sometimes we ride them, and sometimes they hit us broadside. Sometimes it even feels like we are being swept away, barely able to keep our heads above water. This season can be a lot. A lot of stress - financial and sometimes familial, where complicated relationships come into close proximity. A lot of busyness - many places to be, people to see, expectations to meet, and the pressure that comes with that. And for many of us, this season also brings a great deal grief, where memory and the loss of loved ones feel especially present. The reality is that these next weeks will likely bring a mixture of things for us. Sometimes we will feel joyful and sometimes we will be overwhelmed, and just want the wave to pass. And all that is OK, because that's what is real.<br>
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If you were part of the service yesterday, you would have heard me say that this year, our focus for the Advent season is to help us ask good questions to discern what is "really real" as we tune our hearts to recognize God's in-breaking into human history and experience. Even in (especially in) this age of disinformation, where powerful forces benefit from keeping us isolated, in the church, we affirm that the spiritual journey must be a shared journey. And so, over the next weeks leading up to Christmas, through these Advent reflections, will hear from many different members of our community. We will hear where they see God at work in the world; what they are struggling with; what is "really real" on this sometimes choppy journey of faith that we take alongside each other as a community of Christ.<br>
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Surfs up,<br>
<br>
Jason.</span><br>
<span style="color:#000000"> </span></p>
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