For the fourth Sunday of Advent, Rev. Cari completed the sermon series based on the four posture prayer of Julian of Norwich. The sermon focussed on the final posture, “Attend” was based on the Magnificat, the song of Mary found in Luke 1:46b-55.

Introducing Attending as a “stretch” – a potentially uncomfortable position to be held for longer than one might desire – Rev. Cari connected this posture to the power-shifting song of Mary. She invited the congregation to consider where they might be invited to “attend” on God’s behalf in this season.

She shared a description of a photo taken this Advent in Bethlehem’s Lutheran church, where the traditional nativity has been replaced by a single baby doll, lying amid the rubble of a bombed city, as the nativity characters look on. You are invited to search for this photo yourself, taken by Marcus Yam and shared by the Los Angeles Times.