December 19/Third Tuesday of Advent But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.” ~ Luke 1.13 In the course of raising four children, I have spent a lot of time waiting. Not only waiting out the nine months of pregnancy, but waiting in carpool lines, waiting for toddlers to fall asleep and…
Keeping Advent 16: Planning the Work, Working the Plan
December 18/Third Monday of Advent Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your…
Keeping Advent 15: Satellites
December 17/Third Sunday of Advent He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. ~ John 1.8 Although it has been nearly five centuries since Nicholas Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model of the universe, geocentrism — or more accurately, anthropocentrism — still seems to dominate our culture, at least metaphorically. Between curating Facebook profiles, creating Snapchat stories,…
Keeping Advent 14: Attention! Attention!
December 16/Second Saturday of Advent Once again, O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; Take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted. ~ Ps 80.15-16 My husband, whose thumb is verdant beyond compare, likes to say that if you want to kill a plant, all you have to do is to put it…
Keeping Advent 13: Capriccioso
December 15/Second Friday of Advent Jesus said to the crowd: ”To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,…
Keeping Advent 12: Blessed Are the Peacemakers
December 14/Second Thursday of Advent “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” ~ Matt 11.12 At the close of 2017, our world is riven by violence — wars, terrorism, and human trafficking, not to mention acts of individual cruelty and a divisive civic discourse…
Keeping Advent 11: The Things We Carry
December 13/Second Wednesday of Advent “Come to me, all you that are weary and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” ~ Matt 11.28 Whenever I find myself tempted to judge or criticize friend or stranger, I try to remember the saying that a dear friend used to have taped inside her kitchen cabinet: ”Be kinder than necessary, because…
Keeping Advent 10: Only Connect
December 12/Second Tuesday of Advent During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ~ Luke 1.39-40 Announcing a pregnancy to a beloved friend or family member has to rank up near the top of life’s most joyful moments. But…
Keeping Advent 9: Circular Thinking
December 11/Second Monday of Advent They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. ~ Luke 5.18-19 Earlier this…
Keeping Advent 8: Memento Mori
December 10/Second Sunday of Advent Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness? ~ 2 Peter 3.11 In Muriel Spark’s 1959 novel Memento Mori, the plot revolves around an anonymous telephone caller who informs each of the elderly characters, “Remember, you must die.” The…