✨ Peace: In the Unknowing, God is near.
Advent, Week 2: Mary’s Yes and God's Presence
Last Sunday, our family celebrated two beginnings: my daughter Eliza’s 9th birthday and the first Sunday of Advent (hope). This week, we light the candle of peace. But peace can feel hard to find in the unknowns lingering in our worn-out wonderings, in our weary, weary world.
Mary knew these unknowns. When the angel Gabriel appeared to her, her life turned upside down. She didn’t say yes because she felt ready or because the timing was perfect. She said yes because she entered into God’s invitation: Do not be afraid.
As we hold the tension of unknowing and hope this week, we are reminded that peace is found in our tiny offerings of trust—in the quiet yes we give to God, believing with wobbly hope that the Spirit of peace with us, even in the uncertainty, even in the unknown.
My husband Jonny is one of my favorite communicators and theologians (though he’d cringe with embarrassment to hear me say that), and when I read his sermon, I immediately thought of this community—of you. So I asked him if I could share an adapted version here. He (begrudgingly) said yes.
I hope his reflection speaks to you.
A Birthday, Advent, and a Yes
by Jonny Craig
We didn’t find out about Eliza on December 1st—we found out a few weeks later when my wife Kayla received a picture. It was the tiniest baby we’d ever seen, being held by a hospital Santa Claus.
A short bio came with the picture: her name, birth weight, and diagnosis of Down Syndrome. We already had two children, with another on the way, and we had even talked about pausing our adoption process if nothing happened before the new year. And then, there she was—beautiful, amazing, and complicated.
Could we handle everything that came with her diagnosis? Would we have what it took to bring this tiny baby into our home?
My heart wanted to say yes immediately, but fear and uncertainty also crept in.
Advent—a season of waiting and wondering—feels intertwined with that memory of waiting for Eliza. It’s the season when we prepare for the coming of Christ, following the breadcrumbs of hope through scripture to the stable and the manger. It echoes Mary’s own experience when the angel Gabriel came to her with astonishing news: she would bear the Son of God.
When Mary first hears the angel’s greeting, she is troubled, wondering what it could mean. And who could blame her? Here she is, likely just 13 or 14 years old, minding her own business, when an angel shows up and calls her “highly favored.” But before revealing the extraordinary news, Gabriel meets her where she is and says, Do not be afraid.
In that moment of divine mystery, Gabriel’s words carry profound reassurance: Do not be afraid.
As Kayla writes in the Words for the Beginning Advent devotional:
"When we wonder if our quiet worries or loud wonderings matter in the vast expanse of the cosmos, these words remind us that God knows our wandering hearts, acknowledges our fears, and moves toward us."
It’s the same reassurance I needed when I stared at Eliza’s picture, full of questions. It’s the same reassurance I sought from my friend Bill, who also has daughters with Down Syndrome.
I didn’t have an angel show up to deliver God’s message, but I did have Bill. And no offense to any Bills out there, but “Bill” is possibly the least angelic name ever. Still, God has a sense of humor, and Bill played his part. When I called him, I asked what I think Mary asked in her own way: How can this be?
Bill didn’t sugarcoat things. He told me I wouldn’t be strong enough or ready enough. But he also told me that it would be the greatest blessing to say yes—to trust that God would provide the strength, prepare us for the journey, and guide us through it.
Gabriel gives Mary a similar reassurance, pointing to her cousin Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy as proof of God’s provision. And then Gabriel speaks the words that have stayed with me: For no word from God will ever fail.
That’s the truth I’ve discovered in these nine years with Eliza.
God’s promises don’t fail. God doesn’t call us to have everything figured out before we say yes.
Like Mary, our job is to hear the call and answer. Troubled, uncertain, or afraid, we’re invited to step into the unknown with faith, trusting that God goes before us.
Mary’s yes changed everything.
She discovered what we discover when we say yes to God's call: That no word from God will ever fail.
She saw it in the manger that first Christmas night, in the shepherds who came running, and in the faces of Simeon and Anna at the temple. She saw it again and again as she walked alongside her son.
That’s why we reflect in this Advent season—to remember that what started with Mary’s yes has made all the difference, bringing God’s promise of salvation to the whole world.
May we, too, have the courage to answer the call.
Give the Gift of Breath
Looking for a meaningful gift for someone who feels stretched thin and longs for a moment of peace in the chaos of life? Consider giving the gift of A Year of Breath, a weekly invitation to slow down, reflect, and exhale.
When you gift a subscription to A Year of Breath, you’re offering more than a newsletter. You’re giving weekly guided breath prayers to anchor the soul and gentle reflection prompts to cultivate connection with the One who gives each breath.
It’s a gift for anyone longing for spiritual connection amidst the world's noise. A paid subscription unlocks access to every edition of A Year of Breath, a year’s worth of contemplative tools designed to help you breathe in peace and exhale all that weighs heavy.
You can schedule your gift if you’d like — and you have the option to send a note with your gift to let your loved one know that they have a year of peace and presence waiting for them.
In a season full of doing, offer someone you love the space to simply be. Give the gift of breath—a weekly exhale they’ll carry with them all year long. And just a reminder — there’s a standing 40 percent discount for groups of two or more, so find a friend or small group and journey together for the new year!
Borrow this Prayer
Excerpt from “A Prayer for Winter” in Every Season Sacred:
O Word who became flesh,
When the world is cold,
Ignite in us spirits of compassion.
Stoke the fires of generosity
Deep within our souls
So our family may reflect
Your light
To everyone we meet.
O Light of the World,
As we strike matches
And light Advent candles,
Spark in us—from the youngest to the oldest among us—
Childlike anticipation
For the arrival of the One
Who is with us in the darkness,
Illuminates a better way,
And changes everything.
God, we see You in frosted windowpanes
And feel You as snow crunches
Underneath our feet
On early morning walks
To the bus stop.
We thank You for bundled-up babies
And little children
In mismatched mittens,
For big kids
Who can never remember
To zip up their coats,
And for teens who refuse to wear them at all.
Bless the bell ringers and coins tossed in buckets.
Protect us from the lies of consumerism,
And reorient our hearts
To follow the Light of the World
To the places and people
Most often unseen,
Pushed aside,
Or forgotten.
In all the expectations
And clanging cymbals
Of the holiday season,
Help our hearts get quiet.
May every Nativity scene
Help us remember
The Love that lies
In the manger.
Visio Divina
One of my favorite artists is Henry Ossawa Tanner, an incredibly talented Black painter who lived from 1859–1937. We have two pieces of his work on our living room walls and I always find myself captivated by the powerful stories he told with the people he painted and the scenes he set.
The painting above is titled The Annunciation. I invite you to pause for a few moments and practice visio divina—a way of prayerfully engaging with sacred art. Gently allow your heart and imagination to step into the image, resting in silence, and notice what God might want to reveal to you.
Tanner painted The Annunciation soon after returning to Paris from a trip to Egypt and Palestine in 1897. The son of a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Tanner specialized in religious subjects, and wanted to experience the people, culture, architecture, and light of the Holy Land.
Influenced by what he saw, Tanner created an unconventional image of the moment when the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear the Son of God.
Mary is shown as an adolescent dressed in rumpled Middle Eastern peasant clothing, without a halo or other holy attributes. Gabriel appears only as a shaft of light.
Tanner entered this painting in the 1898 Paris Salon exhibition, after which it was bought for the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1899, making it his first work to enter an American museum.
December Reading Guide
Grab your copies of To Light Their Way and Every Season Sacred — this guide will point you to exactly what page to turn to for some encouragement this month.
(Ps — I’m told both of these hardcover books make thoughtful gifts, and that means so much to me. Thank you for sharing these words and the gift of prayer & reflection to your loved ones.)
Advent Week 2 Breath Prayers
Tuck these prayers in your pocket to return to throughout the day to help you pause and reflect on God’s peace available to you—even in the chaos of your busy days.
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