How do you begin your Advent preparations? What practices and rituals do you find helpful as you wait expectantly to celebrate the coming of the Christ child? What have you done in the past that’s been especially meaningful? Are you open to exploring new ways to mark these four weeks?
I like to begin the Advent season with the question: What wants to be born in me now? Birth entails darkness, waiting, and quiet time. What are the gifts to be found in darkness and in waiting?
In my part of the world, Advent comes in a time of darkness. While I sometimes complain, I know there are gifts as well. Think of the darkness of the womb or the darkness in a cocoon from which will emerge a beautiful butterfly. In those images we understand the nurturing and nourishing aspect of darkness.
These images cause me to reflect on the penitential side of my Advent journey. Of what do I need to let go? What needs changing in my life so that I can bring more of God’s light into the world?
This message is excerpted from “A different kind of journey,” a 2011 resource of the Women of the ELCA, written by Sonia Solomonson. Today is the First Sunday of Advent. Today we commemorate Francis Xavier, missionary to Asia, 1552.
There’s still time to register to attend today’s online Advent devotional, Topsy-Turvy Advent, at 3:00 p.m. CST.
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