This episode walks through the readings for the First Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 2:1–5, Psalm 122, Romans 13:11–14, Matthew 24:37–44). Instead of treating Advent as just a countdown to Christmas, we talk about it as a season of holy wakefulness: a time to trade swords for plowshares, anxiety for hope, and spiritual autopilot for a real relationship with Christ.

We move from Isaiah’s vision of swords turned into plowshares, to the joy of going “up to the house of the Lord” in Psalm 122, to Paul’s call to throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Then we land in Jesus’ warning to “stay awake” in Matthew: not as a threat, but as an invitation to live like people who know He is coming out of love, not out of spite. Along the way there’s some humor, a few stories from life in uniform and in the classroom, and a lot of honesty about failure. If you’re imperfect, distracted, and still trying to follow God anyway, this Advent conversation is for you.