Follow this link to an online Advent calendar. Each day a new message will appear when you click on the day. Day One was yesterday, November 29. Day Two is today November 30….
On December 5, Ellen Morris Prewitt, Roy DeLeon, and I will present an Advent Retreat in Memphis. Each of us has explored ways to pray which invite the body into the prayer. We will make crosses from found and discarded objects, pray the Psalms using simple movements and gestures, and pray in color. So if you want to join us in preparing for the celebration of “the Word became flesh,” here are the details:
Along with an Advent wreath, another way to mark the passing of days until Christmas is with an Advent calendar. There are varieties of these available in bookstores and even grocery stores. The common format is a big picture of a Christmas scene–either secular or religious. There are 24 or 25 little doors built into the calendar. Opening the door of the day will reveal a surprise picture–a shepherd, an angel, an elf…. Fancier calendars offer a daily piece of chocolate or other candy.
I once had a large burlap calendar with a winding road made of yarn. Each new day was marked by a loop of yarn. Little felt characters attached to Christmas tree hooks represented the members of our family . Everyday we moved the little people one loop closer to the manger and the Nativity scene. My children especially liked this calendar.
For the past few years I’ve been drawing my own calendars. Each day I’ll pray for a person or I’ll pray a word related to Advent and Christmas. Here’s a picture of last year’s calendar.
I’m not sure what format I’ll use this year, but my friend Cindy has created the template below for her calendar. Her website Mostly Markers has a downloadable version to print. There is also a link to her last year’s calendar which was beautiful.
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.” (Psalms 100:4 NRSV)
Here is my Thanksgiving Day gratitude list–a turkey full of things and friends for which and for whom I am grateful. The turkey I drew is not quite large enough to accommodate all of the people who feed and nourish me. I sure hope the one I bought to eat is large enough to feed and nourish all those who will sit at our table today.
Lighting the candles on the Advent wreath is one of my favorite ways of marking the journey of waiting between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Advent wreath sits on a table or hangs horizontally with four candles on it. Each week, starting with the fourth Sunday before Christmas, someone in our family lights a new candle on the wreath. Week one, we light 1 candle; week two–2 candles; week three-3 candles….The added flame each week lets us know: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (Isaiah 9:2) With the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25, we come to the end of the darkness.
With the lighting of the candles, we say a prayer, read a passage from Scripture, or sing a song. Books and websites are available with suggestions for these readings and songs.
To create an Advent wreath you can purchase a metal, plastic or Styrofoam frame designed for just this purpose. Decorate it with cuttings from bushes, trees, plants, or herbs. Add pine cones or acorns. If you don’t have access to live greens, you can improvise with artificial greenery, green construction paper, or ribbon.
I’m not very good at winding the greens around the store-bought frame I have, so I usually set four candles on the table and noodle some greenery in and and around the candlesticks . My frustration level has gone down many percentage points ever since I gave myself permission to do this. I found the holly for the wreath in this picture on a rubbish heap on the curb in my neighborhood. With a box of matches I’m ready for this first Sunday of Advent.
I don’t cry easily. I can’t seem to cry even when the occasion calls for it. The past few months have been stressful for Andy and me. We focused much of our attention and energy on the possibility of moving. But the move isn’t happening. When we got the news on Friday, I was disappointed but also relieved as I said in my Saturday blog.
I went to church on Sunday feeling pretty chipper and ready for the next chapter of my life. Lots of people told us they were glad we were not going away. Then a friend looked at me the wrong way and I dissolved. I started to cry and couldn’t stop. All of the pent-up emotions from months of waiting and what-if-ing tumbled out.
I fled from the nave of the church. For the next hour I sat on some secluded stairs in the building and sobbed. My whole body shook and little animal noises escaped from my mouth. Tears flowed down my face. Years of them. It was if some inner dam had broken and along with the tears, lots of pent-up prayers poured out. I dumped feelings and worries on God that I didn’t even know I had.
I don’t think I’ve cried like that for over twenty years. Throughout the day I broke into spontaneous bouts of tears. But in the midst of my day-long sorrow, I felt surrounded by a huge rainbow of gratitude.
Scripture tells us that God “will wipe away the tears from all faces.” (Isaiah 25:8 NIV) But on Sunday, I think God gave me the tears. I am thankful for the release and cleansing of that gift.
Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God combines memoir with theology. Step-by step instructions introduce the practice of praying in color as a way to do intercessory prayer. »ABOUT SYBIL MACBETH
