Advent Links

Here are some interesting blog posts to check out during this season of Advent:

Last year, The House for All Sinners and Saints made a beautiful icon out of store ads for Christmas shopping. Check it out in the archives of Sarcastic Lutheran:

A beautiful blog by Jan Richardson, The Advent Door. I return to this nearly every day to help keep me grounded during the days of Advent.

A blogging friend of mine from seminary linked to this post from One Hand Clapping, which is quite thought provoking.

A post on Sustainable Holidays from The Non-Consumer Advocate. This blog is one of my favorites, because it helps me remember that my primary identity is NOT as consumer (despite what the world around me might say).

A post with haunting art, from faith as a way of life, the blog of Chris Schare, Luther Seminary professor (and one time member of CtK!!)

A podcast from Common Good Radio on faithful parenting amidst the pressures of the holiday season.

Enjoy!

Time to sit down and be quiet

Happy Advent!

Advent is one of my favorite times of the year - the preparations, the blue paraments and evergreens adorning our spaces of worship, the lights shining in the midst of the darkness (and let me tell you - last night, driving the rest of the way home from California, it was DARK!), and the opportunity to slow down and be still in the midst of our culture's rush and frenzy.

Advent is easy enough to miss. Our "consumer" culture doesn't have a lot of time for the prayer and reflection the season offers as we prepare our hearts and lives for Christ to be born in us. It takes an intentional pace and disciplined space-making, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Even if you aren't usually one for sitting still or contemplation, during these next days and weeks, give it a try. Light a candle (or the appropriate number of candles on an Advent wreath), set a timer if you have to - start at even just 3 to 5 minutes, sit comfortably, breathe deeply, and join Mary in "pondering these things" in your heart, or think about the words to one of your favorite Advent or Christmas carols.

Tomorrow evening we begin our Advent mid-week services here at CtK. We'll have a soup and bread supper at 6:15pm (kids activities start at 5:30pm) and then Evening Prayer at 7:00pm. We will be using the Holden Evening Prayer liturgy, which is a favorite for many. Come sing, pray, reflect, read Scripture, and have a chance to slow down for an evening. Following worship, those who are interested are invited to stay for a conversation about "Whose Birthday is it, Anyway?" a magazine of reflections, activites, how-to's and more, all ideas for a Christ-centered holiday. Free copies of the magazine will be available.

May this Advent be filled with blessings.

Blessed by a curse

I did not grow up in one town or city. I have lived in many different settings, including two overseas. If I ever have children, I would like to take them to the place I called home for twelve years of my life, San Diego CA.

Because of this environment, I have a strong attachment to stuff. That blessing has now become a curse. In August Lindean and I moved from an 1800 square foot house in Phoenix to a 1200 square foot town home here in Bozeman. All the stuff from Phoenix does not fit in the townhome.

My strong attachment to stuff (the briefcase my father gave me when I was six, my old MN driver’s license, a paper hat from the restaurant I worked at for seven years to name a few items) makes it hard for me to sort through it and to get rid of it. These random piles of meaningless objects to the outside observer are links to my past. I can’t walk back into my childhood bedroom. It only exists in the piles of random stuff I’ve hauled around since graduating from college.

My wife has suggested I place all my beloved objects on the floor, take a portrait of them, and get rid of them once and for all. Easy said than done, sweetheart. Which camera do I use? The one my parents gave me on my 29th birthday? The old broken Canon 35mm that my brother Kurt gave me? The two disposable cameras I bought for mission trips to Mexico but never used? My first generation digital camera made by Kodak but weighs a ton? Decisions, decisions.

Reflection on my attachment to stuff has caused me to reevaluate that attachment. A friend recommended “Every time a new item enters your home, get rid of two items already there.” GREAT IDEA!

For my birthday/Christmas present my parents gave me a new snow suit. This means I have an old snow suit that could be used by someone else. I think I’ll take it to the Salvation Army depot in Bozeman MT this weekend for distribution in “OPERATION WARM” throughout the month of November.

Would you consider donating a used winter coat for “OPERATION WARM?”

Happy reflecting on the piles of your stuff.

Simple

What is "simple" in your life?
What reaction does the word "simplicity" inspire in your soul?
Right now I'm thinking, "if only..." Today, at least, very little seems all that simple to me. Perhaps that's because I have a great talent for making things more complicated than they really need to be. It's definitely possible.
At the same time, though, I think "complicated" has its own kind of inertia - the world helps life get complicated, and simplicity takes some effort, some awareness, some saying "yes" and some saying "no."
What I'm supposed to be working on right now is my set of articles for the November edition of the congregation's newsletter... Since the first Sunday of Advent lands in November this year, I'm working on a piece about the season of Advent, those four weeks before Christmas, and how they are filled with anticipation and waiting, and hopefully, with simplicity.
I just ordered copies of a great magazine that comes out every year called, "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" to distribute to folks at CtK. The "e-store" of www.simpleliving.net has a great line on it that's making me think:

How you spend your money is how you vote on what exists in the world.

Largely true. I'd add that the ways we spend our time and the relationships we build are other ways we "vote on what exists in the world," though the supply and demand side of things certainly rings true, money-wise.

How did you vote on what exists in the world today?