In a recent conversation, a friend noted the relationship between the words Advent and adventure. Both have in common the Latin verb advenire which means “to arrive” or “to come to.”
The season of Advent anticipates God’s coming into the world as Jesus, as a real flesh and blood baby. It also anticipates the return or Second Coming of Jesus.
I like the idea of Advent as an adventure. Merriam-Webster defines adventure as “an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks.” That definition sounds a whole lot like my journey with Jesus. I never know what I’ll be asked to do, where I’ll be asked to go, or who I’ll be asked to love.
The 20th century poet W.H. Auden describes this compelling and dangerous journey in his 1941-1942 poem For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio:
He is the Way.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
For me Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6 NIV), so the risks of the adventure are irresistible.
Some years ago in the course of one month, I walked into public restroom after public restroom and found the toilet paper rolls empty. There were lots of new rolls sitting around waiting to be loaded on the dispenser; but no one had done it. It really irked me. Isn’t there a rule of etiquette about the person who uses the last square of paper?
One day I decided I could I either be chronically irritable about the situation or just remedy it myself. So I took it on as a sort of secret ministry. Every time I found an empty paper dispenser I refilled it with its fluffy (or sometimes scratchy) replacement. For the most part it wasn’t a big sacrifice or a big deal. But I am rather mechanically challenged and sometimes a bit of study and investigation was required.
Lately, there seems to be almost no need for my ministry. With the new giant paper dispensers, supplies last longer. Or maybe someone else has felt called to the same service as mine and beat me to the punch. In any case, now that I have revealed my secret ministry, I need to look for something new. I can’t wait to figure out what God wants me to do next.
Today is my friend Jane’s birthday. We’ve known each other since the day she knocked on my door at age eight and asked my mother if there was a little girl who lived in the house.
Here is my prayer for Janie. The words are from a Birthday Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. The rosette drawing looks complicated, but is really just three circles and a bunch of U’s and V’s. My friend Cindy has directions for drawing rosettes on her website Mostly Markers. It’s an easy way to make a drawing and requires no skill. Because it was just U’s and V’s, I could concentrate on praying for Jane rather than just the drawing. Every U and V is a stroke of prayer for her–a releasing of Jane into God’s hands for another moment, another year.
Madeleine L’Engle wrote a book in the late 1970’s called The Irrational Season. It is a series of memoir/essays about the intersection of her life and the seasons of the liturgical year–Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter….
Every year at this time I read the first chapter entitled “The Night is Far Spent.” It is about Advent. But after I’ve read it, I can’t resist the temptation to read more and I dive into the Christmas chapter called “Sometimes I Forget to Tell You How Much I Love You.” At the close of the chapter is a four-line poem I love and know by heart.
This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
There’d have been no room for the child.
Poem: L’Engle, Madeleine, The Irrational Season, New York, Seabury Press, 1977, p.27.
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:
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
