25,000 Russians were killed in Ukraine last month, 369,000 children will die from preventable diseases this year in Sudan, now more than 50% of the children who live in Detroit are living under the poverty line!

Does this upset you? Or is there some other injustice that's got you wound up or ticked off?

Because it's stuffering like this, that we may be paying attention to or not, that fueled the fervor of this guy called John the Baptist, and lit a fire underneath all the people who lived near him to come out and wake up.

John had a way of awakening compassion that is such an integral part of you and me.

The fervor, and radical nature of his message shows us how important it is for us to live into who we really are, so that we can live our best lives - and so our violent, suffering, broken world can find relief.

Advent is about opening our eyes to the distractions and detours that keep us from being the caring and loving people we are -

So let's wake up to compassion, and wake up to your destiny of care, compassion, and love For ourselves and for others.