Week One
Week One
Week One
Hope through grief and lament
Hope through grief and lament
Hope through grief and lament
Lectionary Readings
Devotional
Advent is a season of waiting and longing in the Christian calendar. There are layered complexities for people who embody a liminal space in the practice of waiting and longing. What are you waiting and longing for at this time?
We are a people shaped by the sacrifice of our ancestors who endured the sacred callings of survival amidst the violence and brokenness of our world. The trauma endured by our diasporic communities is felt as we anticipate family dynamics during the holiday season. We invite you to join us through this Advent series in the practice of waiting and longing as we listen to the wisdom gifted to our communities in longing for God’s shalom to come in fullness.
The theme of the first week of Advent is hope. How do you define hope? With increasing unemployment, loss of rights, disappearances of our neighbors, rising political violence, and isolation, it is difficult to hope. Yet as we began to ask questions and listen more closely to our elders and in solidarity with our communities, we found that what we are facing is not that new for our communities. Most Asian countries have endured authoritarian regimes in the past, prompting our migration stories and a needed perspective in the United States. This week, we are gifted with three conversations about the impact of authoritarian regimes in different countries throughout Asia and the role of Christian communities. To ensure the safety of our participants, their identities are undisclosed.
This year’s lectionary passages for this week are Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:36-44. As you listen to these recordings, consider how these passages invite God’s people to hope. Listen for parallels to the realities we are facing at this time. Practice hope through grieving and lamenting the impact of authoritarian regimes upon our communities even after regimes rise and fall. Consider how these conversations, the newspaper, and Scriptures invite you to respond in waiting and longing this Advent season.
Listen to an intimate conversation between a daughter and her mom, who lived through the South Korean authoritarian regime. Her mom reflected on how her past can perhaps save our present and future.
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Ladies in Hambok
by Susan Yu-Voix
Listen to an intimate conversation between a daughter and her mom, who lived through the South Korean authoritarian regime. Her mom reflected on how her past can perhaps save our present and future.
0:00/1:34
Ladies in Hambok
by Susan Yu-Voix
Listen to an intimate conversation between a daughter and her mom, who lived through the South Korean authoritarian regime. Her mom reflected on how her past can perhaps save our present and future.
0:00/1:34
Ladies in Hambok
by Susan Yu-Voix
Listen for the roles churches in the Philippines took during martial law through the conversation of two Filipino Americans from different generations. They both have experience engaging in the struggle for their people’s liberation transnationally.
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Wind, Stone, Water
by Maia Cruz Palileo
Listen for how communities that endured wars, authoritarian regimes, and displacement in the U.S. found strength and hope to resist violent governments and build new lives.
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Floating on the Mist
by Ly Hoang Long
Spend time engaging the final reflection questions for the whole week and engage this week’s theme of hope through grief and lament.