In Unison.

I just finished Out with it by Katherine Preston. It is an autobiography about her life as a stutterer. I found it beautifully written and intriguing to see into the mind of someone with a  "disability" that doesn't affect them intellectually, but has great impact on their confidence and view of themselves. She writes about her journey growing up believing it was her fault that she had a stutter and always wanting to be fluent- thinking she was a failure if she couldn't be fluent. It was simply an encouragement to me because the book is about embracing the way you were made, finding courage in laughing at embarrassing moments, dismissing critics who believe you won't amount to anything, and ultimately learning that sometimes we are our biggest critic.

I love how the Lord can put simple things together in one moment.

On Wednesday night during house church we were reading through some scripture to celebrate Advent together. We lit each candle on the advent wreath and spent time reflecting on the meaning of each candle. As part of our service, we had responsive readings in which there is a lead reader and then at certain lines, the whole body reads together. We were reading part of Romans 8 and the Lord shook me to the core as our voices joined together proclaiming truth.

Our voices rang out:
No, in all these things we are more than conquers through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

And it struck me. The cadence. The rhythm. The steadiness. The strength. No one faltered. No one missed a word.

When people read alone they did. They faltered. They missed words. They stumbled.

But not together- as one voice.

And that moment was brought together with a chapter in Out with it, in which Katherine is at dinner with her boyfriend whose family is reading passages during the seder meal, a jewish celebration. Her nerves rise and she panics inside. Her boyfriend's turn comes, he looks at her, and asks if they can read it together. Together- because he stutters too and apparently, stutterers know that when they read in unison they don't stutter. This was a fact I didn't know. So they read together- confidently and seamlessly.

And it strikes me- the simple truth of that.

When we read together, proclaim truth together, there is no room for lies and doubts to creep in through the cracks. We read seamlessly. We read confidently. We read boldly. We do not stand alone. We stand shoulder to shoulder with brothers and sisters.

Together- in unison we give glory to the one who deserves it. To the one who strengthens us. To the one became small even though he was so big. To the one who came down to us as a little baby to save the whole world.

This is what advent is about.