This time of year can be complicated for people.  On the one hand, there are wonderful opportunities to be with friends and family, fellowship and good food, music and ritual.  There is the welcome greenery in a winter landscape and twinkling lights on these long, dark nights.  For some people, though, this season can pose a challenge. 

Every advertisement seems to be an invitation to "shop right," with the implication that if we can just find the very best, the most perfect, present, we can make the people we love happy.  Many of us have expectations surrounding the season, and sometimes that can result in disappointment if things don't go quite the way we imagined.  For people who are worried about their jobs or who are on a limited budget, the pressure to buy gifts can cause real anxiety.  Folks struggling with issues around food, say, or alcohol, can find parties and family gatherings difficult.  For people who have lost a loved one or who are estranged from someone they love, or for folks who are alone, this time of year is very hard.

I hope that this season is a very joyful time for each of you; but for those who find this time of year challenging for whatever reason, I want you to know that you are loved and wanted at Good Shepherd, and that it is possible to feel joy even when happiness is elusive.  This season is an invitation to lay claim to hope, which is very different from that cheap, over-the-counter substitute, optimism. 

After years of Christmas music, I admit that some of the songs of the season are so familiar that I hardly notice what I'm hearing.  The other day, though, a radio station played a new arrangement of "Oh, Holy Night."  Maybe the slight change in tempo caused me to hone in on the words, and I really heard the line "Long lay the world in sin and error pining--till [Christ] appeared and the soul felt its worth."  That's truly the cause for rejoicing this season and the reason for hope.  Jesus Christ broke into our world and our lives, and offers us all healing and grace, reminding us that we are infinitely valuable and infinitely loved.  We are not our clothes or our appearance or our jobs: we are more than that.  Our souls are priceless. 

As the light of Advent grows each week, we are invited to remember that the light of Christ will overcome darkness.  We are invited to shine that light on our own lives and to be open to God's love and grace.  Christmas is about God's longing for each of us.  Each one of us is beloved.  Each one of us is enough, just as we are.  No one is alone, and each of us is wanted.  I hope that if you need to, you will practice saying it out loud: "I am God's beloved child.  I am enough, just as I am."  Jesus Christ came into this world to give us once and for all reconciliation and grace.  We are Christ's own, forever.  That is sweeter than any Christmas goodie, and better than any present that can be wrapped in tinsel and tied with a bow--and it's good for all time.  

Good Shepherd's annual Christmas Wreath Sale continues each Sunday through December 15 or until all wreaths are sold.  They sold out early last year ... so don't wait!!

You can purchase beautiful 24-inch wreaths after each service on Sunday at just $10 a wreath ... this is a huge bargain with proceeds going to the church.  In addition to making your front door welcoming and festive, the wreaths can also be used as your family Advent wreath.

Please plan to purchase your Christmas wreaths at Church of the Good Shepherd and let your friends and family know too!  You may contact Andi Simpson at asimpson@federalrealty.com (617-990-7075) to reserve yours for pick up on the 8th or 14th, or simply purchase them after the 8am or 10am service.  Free delivery for any order of 5 or more.  Pick up at Andi's house may also be arranged.

Wreaths are $10 undecorated and this year we will also be offering wreaths with a bow at $15.

Our class facilitator is The Rev. Lisa Fagerstrom, a United Methodist Pastor who is director of Christian Formation and Discipleship at Wesley Memorial Church in Worcester and Minister of Program and Administration at Harvard-Epworth Church in Cambridge.  She is also a certified Spiritual Director.  Rev. Lisa and Rev. Scottie are fellow alumnae of Vanderbilt.  (Lisa holds an engineering degree, ensuring that though she and Scottie overlapped in their time at Vanderbilt, their paths never crossed!)

1. Choose a child to "adopt" from the photos on the bulletin boards in the hallway outside the office.  Each photo is numbered.
2. Select the envelope with the corresponding number from the box on the table in the hallway.  The photo inside is yours to keep.
3. Place a star with the word "adopted" on your child's photo on the bulletin board.
4. Return the envelope with your donation to the office or the offering plate by January 5th.  Checks should be made payable to Church of the Good Shepherd with "El Hogar" in the memo line.

Christine Camper, Kevin Cellucci, Betty Fraser, Bernice Herrick, Scott Johnnene, Thomas and Henrietta Kane, Debra Katt-Lloyd, Tony Lopes, Lynn McDonald, Rheta McKinley, Ken Nowakunski, Elsie Saunders, Bishop Thomas Shaw, Kevin Smith, Jake Torrisi, Ralph Ventola, Stephen Wagner, Michael Webb and Nicki Zitoli.