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November 21, 2004
getting ready for advent
the advent season begins next sunday, a good long while before anyone in their right mind starts doing the math that the christmas holiday is in any way connected to jesus' birth. it's usually about december 15th at our house before we start thinking we should work that angle into all the chaos that we call christmas. how about you?
but maybe, just maybe, that can go differently this year.
for starters we could get (or give) an advent calendar with a nativity theme. how about this lovely traditional one by allesandra roberti? each day you open one little flap until the entire christmas story is told, right up to christmas day.
i also liked the looks of this book a child in winter: advent, christmas & epiphany by caryll houselander. each day of the season, the author shares musings on the practice of waiting and reflection during advent with children in mind. doing a little research on caryll houselander, the catholic mystic, also convinced me she had to be a soulsister. many said she was known to--gasp!--swear on regular occasion, and that to her death she could not seem to give up her cigarettes. not that we smoke, but we love this combination of the profane and sacred in one regular, wonderful person. don't you?
on second thought, perhaps this book should be fedexed. even as i type these noble suggestions, my own wild things are torturing me. first for more scotch tape ("so we can make tape beards to stick on our faces"), then for an intervention to determine who pinched whose nose first, and finally for my undivided attention for god knows a glass of milk that could wait five more minutes.
we have much to learn about waiting, at least with the kind of grace we read about in the christmas story. waiting, while screaming, bickering or roughhousing, no problem.
on thursday, we'll celebrate the forgotten holiday, thanksgiving, and after that, if not in the days before, christmas will be in full swing. here's hoping a little advent magic can arrive in the mail to get us off to a good start.
how do you usually remember advent at your house? or how would you like to remember it? if you're anything like these soulsisters, you're still figuring that out. here's hoping you'll go on the advent journey with us this in the days and weeks to come.
Posted by Jen at November 21, 2004 05:04 PMComments
Jen,
I went to my mail box today, not in the best of moods, health troubles and such made for a bad weekend. I don't enjoy getting mail, and often I neglect it. But today, I turned the key to my box, and there on top was a cardboard USPS envelope... What's this I thought, I ripped the top open, and to my delight, 2 red zines tucked inside. Oh the joy that came over me. Right there in the middle of my suburban neighborhood, something to make me smile.
I sat down on the edge of the side walk, ignored the rest of the mail, and began to read. It is truly wonderful. Thank you so much, and thank you for making my mail box a happy event today. I can't wait to finish reading through it..
:)
My son is almost eleven motnhs, won't quite be one on Christmas. I have started to sing him Christmas songs as he falls asleep. I do it for myself, so that I can start thinking about Jesus coming, which for the past couple of years I had to do in a big hurry. It is hard to "get" the sacred in a hurry! The other reason is that I want Judah to recognize the songs we sing on Christmas day. I'm putting lights up in his room, for a start. I start the singing with songs that aren't my faves, but then work up to O holy Night &c. Singing What Child is This with Judah asleep in my lap is newly moving. These are my attempts. . .
and they are wonderful, erica! don't doubt for a second that they don't add up. (and i love the name judah, btw. so wonderful)
natala, the thought of you sitting on your sidewalk happy makes me smile! thanks for always cheering me up with such encouraging words.
blessings to you both and all the other soulsisters this morning. may we find ways to live with hearts full of happiness and peace this day.
Posted by: Jen Lemen at November 24, 2004 07:45 AMPost a comment