Show Notes  Now, today begins our 3rd of 4 episodes on Advent with Fr Robert Edwards of St Margaret’s Episcopal Church. In our time here together, Fr Rob and I are reflecting on the cosmic wonder of Advent, which celebrates the arrival of the Universal Christ in the bodily form of the man, Jesus. Our objective for the shows on Advent is to help us understand the difference Jesus has made on the lives of hundreds of millions people—in our normal everyday lives, as well as directly impacting our sense of spirituality. In the last two sessions Robert and I talked about the influence of Jesus as he brought light into a world of darkness and then we discussed the humble means by which he both lived and taught, leading us, as well, to a spirit of humility—all in an effort to be more like Jesus. Today I plan to take us in the direction of one of the primary emphases of Advent; and that is life-altering gift of Hope. For this season, in the Episcopal Church we adorn the priest and alter with the color blue, which represents Hope. It has occurred to me that although hope has historically been represented by some desire for a contented life, in last couple of decades I have read of many challenges to the notion of hope—some saying that it too often ends in disappointment. A most pessimistic view of life. We will most certainly talk about this, but first I’d like to welcome Fr Rob back to the show You can reach Fr Rob at robert.edwards@stmarg.org You can get more information and regular updates from Charlie at thenextchapter.life