By the time I get to Advent each year, I’m ready for some joy. I find myself longing for wonder and hope, even for the markers of the season that get a little sappy. I could do with less “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” but overall, I welcome the change that comes with the habits of this season. Even the grief that comes with a holiday—remembering those who have died and lamenting strained relationships—is meaningful even as it is hard.

I want to mark a time when I’m preparing for something different. I want to envision a world where relationships are healed, peace is real, violence is unknown, and love is the rule. Advent helps me see how far we are from that world, still walking in wilderness. Advent gets me ready for the voice calling into the wilderness to guide us out of it.

This Advent, we will read the prophet Isaiah, who called to God’s people in the wilderness thousands of years ago and does the same for us now. That sounds a little heavy; we don’t want to think about wilderness experiences as we trim our trees. But what deeper joy could we know than the promise that God sees the wild, even chaotic, reality of our lives and speaks hope to us? This Advent may our hearts and eyes and ears be open to the Lord who leads us out of wilderness and into joy!