The theme of vigilance is being struck again this week. It’s good to become alert and aware of what’s percolating inside at this turbulent time of endings and new beginnings.

Some things take forever to get here. Whether it’s the arrival of a friend, a birthday, or the holiday season we’re anticipating, the day can’t come fast enough. Even if it’s bad news we’re waiting on—something that will determine the future of our job or a relationship or even our health—the waiting period can tie us up in knots.

The good news of Jesus Christ—the Message!—begins here, following to the letter the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

Jennifer was the No. 1 name given to newborn girls every year from 1970 to 1984, resulting in more women named Jennifer in the United States than there are people in the state of Montana. Growing up, I usually had two to four classmates who shared my name, and we would negotiate at the start of every school year who would go by “Jennifer,” “Jenny,” “Jen,” or some other nickname.

Gathered as a community of faith, we cry out to the God who saves us.

Jesus my Lord has come, then. He has smoothed out your rough places and changed your disorderly ways into level paths, making in you an unimpeded road, a road that is absolutely clear, so that God the Father may walk in you and Christ the Lord make his dwelling in you and say: My Father and I will come and make our home in them.