Tracy's Blog

I'm still thinking about the "unexpected" as I consider expectations.  Why?  Because I am realizing that often what I am caught off guard by something, it is because I had expected something else.  The unexpected in my life is often a result of things not going as I expected. I wonder about Mary and Joseph.  What were their expectations with regards to the promised Messiah?  Surely they didn't expect to be involved!  Yes, they were both of the line of David* from which the Messiah was to come (Isaiah 11:1), but they lived in Nazareth not Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2) I marvel at how the story unfolds.... with so many surprising elements!  Mary is told she is to have a baby even though she is a virgin ( Luke 1:26-38) . Joseph has to deal with a pregnant fiancee (and he knows he is not the Dad - Matthew 1:18-25 )  Eventually, they do end up in Bethlehem because of political reasons ( Luke 2:1-5 ) and that is where Jesus was born.  There are more su...

Well I expected to launch into this blog series reflecting on all my expectations - of myself, of God, of Christmas - when a passage we had read the first Sunday of Advent caught my attention with the word "unexpectedly" . Luke 21:25-36 was the Gospel reading last Sunday.  Right now I want to focus on the last three verses: 34  “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35  like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36  Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” The passage is talking about the return of Christ - that there will be signs and distressing things that happen before Jesus comes again so we need to be ready.  We need to be on our guard so that "that day does not catch [us] unexpe...