Lest we think December is all Hallmark movies, hot cocoa, and joyful carols, Isaiah is here to remind us that Advent is also a time of searching and yearning. We empathize with the author’s plea for God to come from the heavens in a show of power and strength to overthrow the unjust rulers of this world, trample down the things that separate us from one another, and let God's dazzling face shine upon us. And yet, we know that hidden does not mean absent. God is with us in our doubts, sinfulness, suffering, and impatience, even when the scales have not yet fallen off our eyes.
- Lindsay Barrett-Adler