Advent is a season of peace and love and harmony, as envisioned by the prophet Isaiah's poetry about wolves and lambs resting together, toddlers playing with vipers, vegetarian lions, etc. That sounds lovely (if a little boring), but... here in the real world, conflict and destruction persist, to put it lightly. Why do we care about an ancient, idealistic vision of peace? And how might we practice this vision within ourselves and our communities?

On this first Sunday of Advent, we ponder what it means to have hope along with Mary through the lens of The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). This song offers a word of hope for a waiting and oppressed people, and invites us to "go and do likewise" and join God in bringing hope to our hurting world.

On Eternity Sunday, the last Sunday of the traditional church calendar, at Wildwood we take time to name and grieve for our losses in the past year. This year's snow storm meant that only a few of us met at the church building while most others joined online. This solemn service raises big questions for many of us, especially about death, resurrection and the afterlife. What is the basis for the Christian hope that not even death can separate us from the love of God? How do we know that, in the end, everything is going to be okay?

This week we were excited to have Wyndham Thiessen ( Executive Director/Community Leader) and Alecia Thompson join us from L’Arche Saskatoon. They talked about building community and referenced some scripture texts that are particularly relevant to them in this context. We have chosen L'Arche Saskatoon to be our Annual Community Partner this year and look forward to connecting and building community over the coming months.

What Colour is your Faith? This summer at Wildwood, we're exploring the model of Spiral Dynamics as a way to understand the many different faith perspectives that are within and around all of us. 

Billie Eilish. Mumilaaq Taqqaq. Hannah Gadsby. (Yup, we are shamelessly celebrity name-dropping to clickbait you into checking out this week's sermon.) But also, these three powerful women demonstrate the best of the "Red: Power/Ego" space in our series on the spirituality of Spiral Dynamics. Come flex with us!

The song you should see me in a crown by Billie Eilish has been removed due to copyright.

What does it look like to break the cycle of shame in practical terms? Embracing vulnerability in your relationships, with yourself and with others. Ben and Joe explain what that might look like, and then a dance party breaks out. Seriously.

The song Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars was removed from this recording due to copyright.

The prayer that Jesus taught us, or the Lord's prayer, outlines a vision for the kin-dom of God on earth. This Peace Sunday, as we are surrounded by narratives of war, scarcity, and fear, how can we rewrite the stories? How can we reimagine the ancient vision of shalom (peace) and make it make sense for our world today?

Note: Song recording Your Peace Will Make Us One by Audrey Assad has been removed due to copyright.

This Sunday Andy Arthur, MCC Thrift Coordinator for SK and AB shared with us about a recent MCC Learning Tour to Uganda that he and Lisi participated in.

The Beloved Community, sometimes called the Kingdom of God, is political. How do we share life together, as followers of Jesus and children of God? How can we practice politics in ways that limit our self-interest in order to lift up those with the greatest needs?

The Beloved Community is one vision for creating a “truly brotherly society” (Martin Luther King, Jr.), a call for solidarity and harmony between all people. For followers of the way of Jesus, an important dimension of this call is the spiritual. The prayer of Ephesians 3:14-21 is an encouragement for the church to orient ourselves to the “Infinite Being,” and to be rooted and grounded in love as we sow the seeds of God’s kin-dom on earth.