Back in my first year as Executive Director, I wrote a piece for this newsletter in which I spoke of the “cold barrenness of winter.” One of our fantastic alumni, who is an environmental educator, wrote back a few days later: the land is NOT barren in winter, far from it. Under the blanket of snow, microorganisms are preparing the ground for growth. The cold kills off harmful pests. Winter prepares the way for new life in the spring.

Maybe it makes sense, then, that the two seasons of preparation in the church calendar, Advent and Lent, fall in the darkest and coldest months in the northern hemisphere. During those seasons, we are called to slow down, to be quiet, so that we can hear the still, small voice calling out the seeds of new life within us. But at Christmas, too often we settle for the cheap version of preparation that we see modeled around us: lengthy shopping lists, perfect home decor, or for some of us, plowing through the landslide of work tasks before wearily putting on the holiday out-of-office message. Convinced that the quiet and darkness are barren spaces, we ward them off with the noise and glitzy light of our busy-ness. And the soil of our souls remains malnourished.

Yet I’m drawn to what Black author Cole Arthur Riley writes on Instagram (@BlackLiturgies) about Advent: “As we wait, we remind ourselves that darkness (which is far too often reduced to a trite symbol for sin and death), actually has the unique capacity to bear the divine. In Advent, we reclaim the holy dark.” What would it mean, in these final days of Advent, to reclaim that darkness, to recognize its divine potential? What would shift within us?

When I think about the holy dark, I think about reflection, openness, willingness to let the cold kill off what no longer helps me so that I can make space for growth. And it is in that spirit of holy dark that Life Together is entering its own season of reflection over the next few months. Accompanied by consultants from the Capacity Institute, we will explore where Life Together has been in the darkness of this pandemic season, and where it is going in the years ahead. We want to reflect on the needs of Gen Z young adults and what we are called to offer the next generation of prayerful and prophetic leaders. It is a chance to prepare the soil for a new season in our organizational life. I am eager to begin this work, and excited to share what we are learning with you in the coming months.

May you embrace the holy dark of these final days of Advent, and find the joy of new life this Christmas. Happy holidays to all of you in our Life Together community!