Advent Calendars!

Is it just me, or are Advent calendars becoming very popular these days? 

 Everywhere I turn I see them.  For instance,

You've got your Star Wars Advent Calendar:

 

 

And the Barbie Advent Calendar:

 

 

Let's not forget the Beer Advent Calendar:

 

 

And for all the feline fanciers out there, the Cat Advent Calendar:

 

We currently have four Advent Calendars in our home, though none of the above mentioned. 

This must make us a) obsessed with countdowns b) very into Advent,

c) your typical over-the-top consumer, or d) all of the above.

 

The first Advent calendar is one I've had for years. 

It consists of a wooden box filled with doors behind which the seeker will find 

tiny hand blown glass ornaments that are hung on a small tree. 

 This is always a hit with the little ones.

 

Our next Advent calendar has the ever popular Scandinavian Holy Family - all blondes...

notice there are several windows open:

 

 

Every year we receive the Slow Down Advent Calendar at church, which is on our back door:

Every day there is something to read and you can color on it if you so wish:

 

 

And last but definitely not least is the Trader Joe's chocolate calendar:

 

 

This one has caused some issues with Fredrick who is 2. 

 Once he discovered that there was CHOCOLATE

behind that first door he wanted to punch in all the doors.

And why not?  Why can't he just have it all?

 

 Through his 2 year old eyes he probably saw the calendar looking like this one

(which I stole from here.)

 

 

Um....it's not just 2 year olds who have trouble waiting.

I completely relate to the No Self Control Calendar.

And yet, we are called to wait.

For the birth of the holy one.

 

So no matter what kind of Advent calendar you follow,

enjoy opening one day at a time,

living in the present.

And remember this:

 

Waiting is our Advent spiritual practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

room for waiting

 

“A waiting person is a patient person.

The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are

and live the situation out to the full in the belief

that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”

― Henri J.M. Nouwen

this photo of a mural at a community health center waiting room from the west side of Chicago is from here.

Advent womb

"We wait in the darkness, expectantly, longingly, anxiously, thoughtfully.
The darkness is our friend.

In the darkness of the womb we have all been nurtured and protected.

In the darkness of the womb,

the Christ-child was made ready for the journey into light.
You are with us, O God, in darkness and light."

 

first stanza of a prayer from the

Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand (adapted)

2nd Sunday in Advent, 2011

Yesterday we celebrated the Second Sunday of Advent. 

Two candles of the four are now lit, bringing a bit more light into the darkness.  

Isn't this Advent wreath a thing of beauty? 

I'm drawn to both the earthy textures and desert-like colors.

Which brings me to John the Baptist, the voice crying in the wilderness.

The forerunner to the Messiah, who prepared His way.

He was earthy to the max, wasn't he?

 With his rough clothing, austere diet, and calls for repentance.

I have lifted the following quote from a website

that I look forward to receiving every week:

The Edge of Enclosure.  Do check it out here.

And as you light your second candle, consider the pairing of our loneliness,

our desert experiences of life, with the river of life

that the Christ child will bring and fill us with in this season

so that we might offer such a love to those who, like us,

are also wandering in the wilderness. 

***

"Our brokenness is the wound through which

the full power of God can penetrate our being and transfigure us in God.

Loneliness is not something from which we must flee

but the place from where we can cry out to God,

where God will find us and we can find God.

Yes, through our wounds the power of God can penetrate us

and become like rivers of living water to irrigate the arid earth within us.

Thus we may irrigate the arid earth of others, so that hope and love are reborn."
-Jean Vanier
The Broken Body
1988 Paulist Press
quoted from An Advent Sourcebook (LTP)

the photo of the Advent table decoration is from here.

persistence & perseverance

"The Ba'al Shem Tov spoke to his disciples about such persistence this way: 'A man of piety complained to the besht,* saying,  'I have labored hard and long in the service of the Lord, yet I have received no improvement.
I am still an ordinary and ignorant person.'
And the besht answered,  'Ah yes, but you have gained the realization that you are ordinary and ignorant, and this in itself is a worthy accomplishment, is it not?'

Persistence and perseverance in hard times may not guarantee that we will receive what we set out to do. But what we ourselves can become inside ourselves, in spirit and soul, in the process will be more than worth the effort."

from Becoming Fully Human by Joan Chittister
*besht - acronym for Ba'al Shem Tov

1st Sunday of Advent

Advent - a time of waiting - for Jesus to be born and for Jesus to return.  We're looking backward and forward at the same time.  We're waiting for something that happened 2000 years ago and we're waiting for something that has not happened yet.  And as we all know - no one likes waiting.  This year major department stores couldn't even wait for Thanksgiving to be over to start their Black Friday sales. What does that say about our inability to wait?


So here we are at the first Sunday of Advent. Will we make it to Christmas?  Join me in the spiritual practice of waiting, as I post quotes, prayers and musings over the next four weeks that are primarily related to Advent, my favorite season of the liturgical calendar.  Let's see if that saying, "Good things come to those who wait" is really true.