Each Winter as the Year Grows Older (Carol of Hope) is one of my favorite Advent hymns.

The lyrics strike at my core. As I reflect on the words, it seems more valid in today’s world than ever before:

“Each winter, as the year grows older, we each grow older too. The chill sets in a little colder;

The realities we knew seem shaken and untrue. When race and class cry out for treason, When sirens call for war, they over-shout the voice of reason. And scream till we ignore all we held dear before.”

But Advent is a season of hope. Hope that we can overcome the adversities that divide us.

Being steadfast in faith and hope in the saving power of God’s love can give us the authority to heal the physical, mental and spiritual wounds of our changing times. Jesus shows us the way.

Jesus is confronted by the scribes and Pharisees, who question his authority. Yet, Jesus shows us how to heal not only physical and mental wounds but spiritual ones as well. Through our faith in Him, he bequeaths us with the same power. Faith in Him fuels the Hope to empower us to be his instrument in our world.

The last few stanzas of the Carol of Hope express the power faith in Christ can bring:

“Yet I believe beyond believing that life can spring from death: That growth can flower from our grieving, That we can catch our breath and turn transfixed by faith.

O Child of ecstasy and sorrows, O Prince of peace and pain, Brighten today’s world by tomorrow’s, Renew our lives again; Lord Jesus, come and reign!”