Advent: Love Comes Down

Advent: Love Comes Down

By this point in December, love has been merchandised within an inch of its life. It jingles in ads that say if you really love someone, you should buy them a luxury car with a bow the size of a house.

But Advent tells another story. God did not arrive in a grand gesture—no skywriting, no fireworks, no leather interior with heated seats. Love slipped into a Bethlehem stable, swaddled in rags.

This is not the love we usually want. We’d prefer it to be shiny and obvious. Instead, God gives us the kind of love that chooses vulnerability. A baby who cannot even hold up his huge noggin. A terrified teenage mom. And a dad who's trying to believe this is not all a terrible mistake.

And yet—this is the love that remakes the whole world. Not quick or efficient, but slow and human. Love that needs to be changed and snuggled. Love that grows up to sit with outcasts and weep at gravesides and promise that nothing—not even death—can separate us from God.

So here we are, a few days from Christmas, and maybe the invitation is to look for love in small ways. In a text that says, “Made it home safe.” In a neighbor shoveling your walkway. Love in the God who came close, unnoticed but never unneeded.

Subscribe to Kate’s Substack for blessings, essays, and reflections that hold what’s hard and beautiful. Join us for Advent over there, too!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jaksot(282)

What If Happiness Isn’t What You Think It Is? with Patrik Hagman

What If Happiness Isn’t What You Think It Is? with Patrik Hagman

What does it mean to live well when danger, loss, and grief are never far away? Kate Bowler talks with theologian, pastor, and writer Patrik Hagman, whose life has been shaped by profound loss—includi...

24 Helmi 49min

There Is More Good Among Us Than We Think with Bishop Michael Curry

There Is More Good Among Us Than We Think with Bishop Michael Curry

When many people hear the word Christian today, it comes with a lot of baggage—power, certainty, exclusion, and culture-war posturing. But there are still people of faith whose lives look nothing like...

17 Helmi 39min

Anne Lamott on Love, Shame, and Being Human

Anne Lamott on Love, Shame, and Being Human

What do we do when the world feels unbearably heavy—and no one is coming to save us? To kick off Season 16 of Everything Happens, Kate Bowler sits down live with beloved author and truth-teller Anne L...

10 Helmi 47min

Listen Again: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts with Minka Kelly

Listen Again: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts with Minka Kelly

How do we stay soft in a world that has taught us to be tough? Actress Minka Kelly is known for her roles as Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights or as Samantha in HBO’s Euphoria. Despite her fame on t...

3 Helmi 37min

Listen Again: Life After Dark with Barbara Brown Taylor

Listen Again: Life After Dark with Barbara Brown Taylor

Author and Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor is no stranger to darkness. After experiencing devastating loss, Barbara explores our culture’s pursuit of the sunny side of life. But perhaps there ar...

27 Tammi 32min

Listen Again: Loving Mercy with Bryan Stevenson

Listen Again: Loving Mercy with Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson (founder of the Equal Justice Initiative) is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic huma...

20 Tammi 1h 1min

Listen Again: Living with the End in Mind with Kathryn Mannix

Listen Again: Living with the End in Mind with Kathryn Mannix

What if you started thinking really concretely about small, hard choices? That’s exactly what palliative care physicians do every day. They help us think about what we really want—knowing that we have...

13 Tammi 57min

Listen Again: Oliver Burkeman on New Year, Same Me

Listen Again: Oliver Burkeman on New Year, Same Me

Does life ever feel like an endless to-do list? Like if you could just wake up tomorrow with a little more discipline, you’d finally master your schedule, achieve balance, and feel…enough? On today's...

6 Tammi 44min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

sita
olipa-kerran-otsikko
ihme-ja-kumma
kaksi-aitia
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
i-dont-like-mondays
uutiscast
poks
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
antin-palautepalvelu
kolme-kaannekohtaa
mamma-mia
rss-murhan-anatomia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
aikalisa
loukussa
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
naakkavalta
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2