"Signs and Symbols" by Jason Edwards

I'm writing to you from an evening rich with signs and symbols.

Earlier, my kids and I wandered first around our yard and then around our city, trying to get a good glimpse of the "Christmas Star." A recent NASA article explained the "Christmas Star" in this way:

In 1623, the solar system's two giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, traveled together across the sky. Jupiter caught up to and passed Saturn in an astronomical event known as a "Great Conjunction."

"You can imagine the solar system to be a racetrack, with each of the planets as a runner in their own lane and the Earth toward the center of the stadium," said Henry Throop, astronomer in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "From our vantage point, we'll be able to be to see Jupiter on the inside lane, approaching Saturn all month and finally overtaking it on December 21."

The planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system, with the positions of Jupiter and Saturn being aligned in the sky about once every 20 years. What makes this year's spectacle so rare, then? It's been nearly 400 years since the planets passed this close to each other in the sky, and nearly 800 years since the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter occurred at night, as it will for 2020, allowing nearly everyone around the world to witness this "great conjunction."

After dinner, I was cleaning up when a friend sent a text to go outside and witness this "great conjunction." After traipsing around our yard for several minutes (eyes up), I wasn't sure if I'd actually seen it or not. About this time, Christy called on her way to work to let me know where she'd seen it more clearly on her way out of town. I then loaded the kids in our Acadia and drove to a place where I'm pretty sure we witnessed the "great conjunction," then returned home.

Soon after pulling into my driveway, I got a text from Christy. It was a picture of her receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, something that has been deeply meaningful for many healthcare workers. We've all been affected by this virus. For months they've seen up close what it can do and has done to so many of our loved ones as they are working for us and hoping with us for the day when this pandemic will come to an end. So, it hasn't been a surprise to hear many of them talk of getting teary as they received a shot, which is also a symbol.

Speaking of symbols, I'm also writing this from the winter solstice, the day in our hemisphere with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. This always feels a bit symbolic in the final days of Advent as we prepare for the promise and power of Christmas and, beyond it, the light of Epiphany. But this year, on the night when so many are receiving their vaccination, it feels a bit like a great conjunction.

So, on the cusp of Christmas, in the midst of the great conjunction, I'm praying that in 2021 hope, peace, joy, and love will align for you and yours in long-awaited ways. Remember to look for it.

On a night when healthcare workers all over our country are receiving a drug that will eventually end this pandemic, I'm praying God continues to use this as a sign of hope to strengthen our spirits in the days ahead.

All of this from the day with the longest night and the least amount of light, which means in the days to come, each day will hold a little bit more light than the last. I'm praying that will be true for all of us in every way in the year ahead, even as we continue to embrace Christ's call to be the light of God's world.

 With ever-glowing hope,

Jason Edwards
Senior Pastor