We’re a few days into the Advent season.   I think maybe it’s my favorite season of the church calendar, as it’s a kind of mellow, reflective time that looks forward to something amazing breaking into history not once but twice.  I also love the Scripture read throughout the season.

This week, the second letter of Peter has been a chosen text.  This time around, I’ve noticed some wording that I really like.  Consider:

¹² So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. ¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, ¹⁴ because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. (2 Peter 1:12-15)

and then

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ² I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. (3:1-2)

and

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (3:8-9)

I like Peter’s insistence that he is reminding his readers of things.  These are things that they already know, that they have already been taught, that they must remember.  The first passage connects to the believers’ election and calling  . . . and the evidence of those things through faith and goodness and self-control (as three of a few).  The second passage is to stimulate thinking that is “wholesome,” thinking that is rooted in previous revelation from the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus himself.  And finally, the reminder is about the timing of God, something particularly potent during the season of Advent.

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These last few weeks have been packed at school.  After three months at work, our new Christian Ministries coordinator decided to leave, so I’ve picked up the chapel piece again.  Beyond that, it’s winter banquet season AND the end of the semester, which is always a wild, untame time.  Last week’s annual getaway to Victoria, British Columbia was really nice, but it kind of exists as a bubble (which I am more convinced most “rest” ends up being).  I find myself, more than usual, packing things into the work day and then vegging out at night.  I’m grateful to have this weekend to get some routine and breathing space.

(image from worshiphousemedia.com)