december/
twenty-thirteen
The gloom of the world is but a shadow.
Behind it, yet within our reach is joy. Take
Joy!
-Fra Giovanni 1513
–Renee Sundberg (University Presbyterian
Church, December 1st)
“I will honour
Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the
Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within
me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!” - Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol
favorite tradition of our Advent book countdown reading lots of old favorites through the season
Repeat the sounding joy...
Advent: the time to listen
for footsteps -
you can't hear footsteps when you're running yourself.
- Bill McKibben
Advent, which
literally means “arrival,”teaches us to wait for the coming of Christ, not just
way back in Biblical times, but now—in the places where we long for his presence
and need his intervention. Advent ushers us into a special kind of waiting that
is alert and watchful, patient and yet full of anticipation. Like the doorkeeper
who is assigned to keep watch while the master is away, we are instructed to be
aware and awake so that we don’t miss Christ’s coming into our lives in ways
that we could not possibly predict.
– Ruth Haley Barton
Anna's dance performance in the story ballet of The Steadfast Tin Soldier
"It is Advent: the time just before the adventure begins, when
everybody is leaning forward to hear what will happen even though they already
know what will happen and what will not happen, when they listen hard for
meaning, their meaning, and begin to hear, only faintly at first, the beating
of unseen wings… Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat
I know
deeply that I have a home in Jesus… I keep trying to bring my wandering,
restless, anxious self home so that I can rest there in the embrace of love.”
–Henri Nouwen
The birth of the child into the darkness of the world made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it. – Frederick Buechner
I bought a used unicycle on Craigslist to try to learn so I can ride with the kids.
It has helped me keep my sense of humor the last few weeks and has taught me much perseverance and humility. :) My favorite part is that in these beginning stages of trying to learn that my mom, dad and brother chipped in to help me in my crazy endeavor. I love that at 40 years old that they are still ones who will lend a hand when I need it.
St. B’s always gives us such a warm
welcome when we come back…
giving thanks for another wonderful Christmas Eve
Pageant there!
"Advent is a season for waking up to all the ways Christ comes to us. Yes, the themes of Advent help us celebrate and commemorate his first coming in the Incarnation. They encourage us to anticipate his second coming in glory—of course! But there is also such a thing as the third coming of Christ: that is, all the ways in which Jesus comes to us now, bringing light for our darkness, peace for our turmoil, hope for our fear."
–Ruth Haley Barton
continuing our Christmas celebration in Anacortes,
WA with the Cravys and Huffs
"It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself."-Charles Dickens
a dozen 2013 posts worth revisiting:
