I was just trying to buy a few little festive Halloween decorations
This year, I couldn't put on my traditional Halloween costume and creep down to the Lower School while all the kids and adults pretended that they had no idea who the overstuffed pink rabbit might be. Instead, I mused, I will venture into the "Oz" of the local superstore and secure just a few remnants of my decades of love in a school...
Bewildered, I couldn't find a pumpkin -- or even fall festive fanfare to go with the yet-to-be-purchased turkey, but I recognized the music that ordinarily enhances my mood level. It leveled a blow instead. "Deck the Halls" chimed with festive celebration amidst the glittering trees. I hadn't even purchased the Trick or Treat candy.
I can't change the store hours on Black Friday or preserve work hours on Cyber Monday or remember that generosity needs more than giving Tuesday or wait for Christmas movies until after the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day game But, I can do Advent
There's no going back It's the present that calls us It is in this moment that we love one another care for those in need make the giving heart the one that beats within me
There's no pretending Christmas and Advent cohabit-ate December Purple and Pink candles stand in the midst of the tree O Come O Come Emmanuel is Rudolph's minor key I know well enough how to accept what I cannot change But, I can do Advent
Advent is not a chocolate calendar of countdown It is a way of being it is the hush in the early morning of a too-packed day of festivity. It is the refusal to not see my own darkness and the clutter that can't go on the journey to follow the star.
Advent is not about giving up It's about opening up. It's about trusting in the evergreen of a wreath that whistles in the night "Faith, Not Fear." It's about taking a few minutes without the 24 hour news channel and live streaming of life that lets us do several things without really doing anything. It's about remembering those in each of our lives who held the light and lit the wreath and saw in us what we could not see in ourselves.
Advent is a journey of being here. And being ready for what is unclear for which we have not planned and which we are absolutely certain is the star that we were born to follow.
Advent is for courageous dreamers Heart-warriors Peace-believers Hope-makers Love-finders.
I welcome you to this little corner I am carving in my life where nothing but Advent gets in... a few stories, poems, tales of the past and dreams for the present. Thank you for welcoming me I meet you in the Advent of now.
So, buy the wreath find three purples and a pink candle Make a recurring appointment in your digital calendar with yourself someone else who needs Advent and God.
We'll bless the wreath later today and light a candle and hit the "off button" on everything except what really matters
I need Advent Just a little corner in a busy high rise of Christmas
