How many of us catch ourselves feeling during this season each year something like, “It’s not supposed to feel this way”? There’s a frustration that can come during Advent: all the year-end activities, preparations for Christmas Eve/Day, complications among family, friends, and colleagues, all of them potentially leading to stress and anxiety, mixed with the pressure not to acknowledge that there’s anything stressful. Then, on top of that, there can be guilt thrown in because we think we shouldn’t feel frustrated or anxious but still we do and so we feel guilty for feeling frustrated or anxious.

As we enter this season, let’s ask ourselves: what are the pale imitations in our lives, the things we turn to thinking they’ll fulfill us? But then like the failed kings of old, how might these imitations point us to where our hope might truly lie? Join us this December as we explore these questions and more.