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A Few Christmas Memories
I find myself looking back this Advent to remember traditions my parents and my siblings shared. Many of them are simple, but they give me deep joy and peace at how wondrous it is to be present during this season. One of our traditions was to go out to a farm and pick a beautiful live Christmas tree. It had a large root ball and was quite heavy. The hole where it would be planted was already dug and prepared. For me today this is a symbol of hope. We are not cut down during Advent, but rather planted to grow again in Spring. There is much to look forward…
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Vespers
In the past few months I have added two positive events to my life. The first is a late afternoon walk which takes me to a beautiful nearby lake. The second is Zoom Evening Prayer from the Church of the Ascension in New York City. It starts with an opening prayer for forgiveness. The lectionary leads us through a Psalm or two, followed by readings from the Old Testament and New Testaments. The readings are not always easy. Led by each Priest we get the context and a better grasp of the meanings. There are also prayers the needs of particular people and the world. Both the walk and the…
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Becoming
Advent began last Sunday and for me it is a time of preparation and hope. It is both joyful and reflective. My thinking in life has always centered around becoming. What am I waiting for and hoping to become? For me becoming is always in process– looking out to see what one never saw before. A reminder from the Church of Ascension newsletter: “I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hopeFor hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faithBut the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.”—…
