This year for Advent our church is using A Sanctified Art’s Advent series, How Does A Weary World Rejoice**  The first week’s theme was: “Acknowledging our Weariness.”  

While scrolling through videos on YouTube one day, I came across a clip from popular comedian Dave Chapelle’s stand-up routine. He was remembering when he was in school in 1986, and the teacher wheeled a TV into his classroom for students to watch the Challenger Space Shuttle take off.

But then it broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard—live on TV. The class was sent home. 

He said younger generations won’t know what that is like because “the space shuttle blows up everyday” for us.***

In a time when not only is there so much going on in the world, we hear about it instantly because of our technology, social media and 24/7 news sources. It’s easy to grow weary when we are constantly hearing the pain of everyone in the world. When we are constantly reminded of the violence, injustice, and hatred that exists everywhere.

We feel we can do little to help, and we grow weary

We feel we can do little to help, and we grow weary. 

There’s enough weariness in many of our individual lives. Financial struggles, health concerns, family dynamics, never-ending to-do lists, job stress, grief and so on. 

I’ll be honest, the weariness is particularly strong this year. It’s been difficult getting into the holiday spirit. I’m not alone. Many people in my life have expressed feeling the same way this year. 

I told one person that my Advent sermon was going to be about weariness, and she started crying. “I’m so weary,” she said. We are collectively weary. 

I got about three pages into writing about weariness for my sermon, and then I realized, “Oh, I’m the pastor. My job is to point us toward hope and rejoicing.”

Writing about weariness was effortless. The next part didn’t feel as easy. And that’s when I remembered that Christmas isn’t just for the cheerful. Jesus, Immanuel, came for all of us: the cheerful, the grateful, the faithful, the grieving, the weary, the doubtful. “Immanuel” means “God with is”—all of us. 

No matter how you are feeling, God is with you

This Advent, no matter how you are feeling, God is with you. Whether life has never been better for you, or you are in the depths of despair. Or you’re just overwhelmed because it’s all too much.

God is with you in it. God never leaves us. God is as close as our next breath.

So, breathe deep and remember: God is with you. No matter what you are going through, no matter how weary you are. God is with you, even if you don’t want to put up a Christmas tree or sing carols.

God is with you if you don’t send out the Christmas cards this year or hang the stockings. God is with you. Always. No matter what. Glory be to God.

* The Rev. Julia Singleton serves as lead pastor of Fox Chase UMC in Philadelphia and on EPA’s Communications Resource Team. To help you celebrate Epiphany Sunday, January 7, 2024, reread Julia’s “Star Words” reflection, published in January 2023

**The main image here is from A Sanctified Art’s worship series for Advent and Christmas.

***In “Spin,” Mr. Chappelle builds sweeping historical premises that position him as an elder statesman. “I’m from a different time,” he says, before describing how jarring it was to watch the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explode live on television while in school. Sharing that disaster together was a touchstone for many of his generation.

Singling out a kid in the audience, he says: “For your generation, the space shuttle blows up every day.” His point seemed to be that communal tragedy and anger have become part of a steady diet in our social media feeds. 

From The New York Times, “In Netflix Specials, Dave Chappelle Challenges His Audience,” by Jason Zinoman, March 17, 2017.