I don’t know about you, but I find myself leaning in to the promise of Advent in a more acute way this year. 
I sometimes have to dig deep to trust that God’s presence will break into this world yet again. Every time I turn on the news, I hear stories of division and systemic oppression, often affirmed in the name of the same Christ we wait upon during this Advent season. Often it seems the longing for Christ to enter the world can make our need for Christ that much more apparent. I find challenge and affirmation in the words of Daniel Berrigan: So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ—the life of the world.
As I reflect on where I find hope in the world, I am reminded of a conversation I had just last month. A teenager approached me after a recent Out of Order screening with tears in her eyes, unable to speak above a whisper. She told me that watching the film was the first time she had seen that it was possible to be her full self as a LGBTQ Christian. Even though she grew up Presbyterian, all she had heard from the community outside of her church while living in Texas is that being LGBTQ was a sin. She left the film more confident in living as her authentic self; the person God had called her to be. I’ve watched the film with 19 audiences in the past year, from Texas to New York, California to North Carolina. I have found so much hope in seeing people from ages 10-90 all across the country see a positive and affirming vision of LGBTQ people of faith, particularly in a year when the dominant narrative in the media has been of so called Christians claiming it to be an act of their faith to refuse service or rights to LGBTQ people. Now, more than ever, I believe More Light has the opportunity to remind people of the hope against hope that Advent brings. And we could not do this without your help.
As the year draws to a close, we need your help. We have $3000 left to meet our end-of-year goal and we cannot do it without you. Help us carry a message of hope into 2018 so we can continue to carry out a positive and affirming vision of LGBTQ people, and be a balm against the vitriol. Step into hope with us.