In our time, the lead up to Christmas is associated with stimulation, consumerism, excitement.  Ads are full of smiling faces, aesthetic home decor, and gifts purchased new from Amazon (or Etsy).  The season is all about enjoyment, we are told.  And if you can’t enjoy, then you can’t take part.  Those of us who are grieving the loss of a loved one, or spending the holiday alone, or who are simply nauseated by all the consumption, end up feeling like the season must always take place without us.  But we forget that the lead up to the first Christmas was not a happy one.  The world that waited for Messiah was a weary one, and the only reason it could rejoice at his coming was because he would go on to join us in our weariness.  This Sunday, come explore an unusual Advent passage: Psalm 22, a song of the suffering of Messiah.  Come and learn that it is only in the darkness of Christ’s sufferings that we realize why the nativity is bright.