Dear Friends,
Is this early start to Advent thing making everyone else feel like they’re running behind, or is it just me? As I’m finishing up my Christmas shopping, waiting for deliveries to be packed up and shipped to family, the fact that I should have finished assembling our church’s digital Christmas Pageant by the time I write you next week has me feeling like it’s much later in the month than it is. I suppose the circle of the Church year is always a bit like this - just like we always seem to be observing that there’s no “normal” start for Easter, just early and late ones.
The goods news, at least for me, is that despite my post-COVID exhaustion, the constant sense of running behind, and everything else, so many small things keep bringing me Joy, which is our watchword for Advent 3. So, in place of something more substantive, for now I offer you these highlights, and encourage you to keep an eye out for the Advent 3 video on Facebook or Twitter later this week.
A member of the formation committee working on our pageant sent along this picture this week, and I shrieked with actual delight. As the Godly Play story goes, on Christmas morning, it was the cow who was the most surprised upon going to have her breakfast, instead finding the baby Jesus in the manger.
I’m absolutely in love with this international creche collection from the National Cathedral. Our household Nativity is actually from an artisan’s market in Guatemala, where my in-laws live.
Good news for families and formation professionals everywhere: Illustrated Ministry is providing free weekly resources again, this time for the weeks between Christmas and Lent. You can sign up here.
I spend an awful lot of time on social media, much as I’ve been trying to cut back, and I’m super into everyone’s Spotify Wrapped. My results? While the top songs are a bunch of ambient new age tracks I listen to while I sleep, my top artists are a reflection of this week’s passage from Thessalonians, which calls on us to “Pray without ceasing” - Chelsea Moon & the Franz Brothers, The Corner Room, Nichole Nordeman, you get the drift.
I finished reading Traci Smith’s Faithful Families for Advent and Christmas the other day, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Smith’s ideas for creating holy moments at home are perfect for families, but also super valuable for formation leaders. I’m particularly love her suggestions for treasuring the Christmas season, not just Advent, and how low-stress every undertaking is. I’m excited to put these offerings to work in my congregation and my home next year. If you’re still looking for some ideas for your own home life, you could still get a lot out of it this year.
Finally, at least until I can get that Advent 3 video up, I can’t let Gaudete Sunday go by without a reminder of the wonders of the Magnificat. The Holden setting by Marty Haugen in particular has lived in my heart since I was a teen and I am regularly reminded of Mary’s song of praise, how she exalts the Lord for God’s works of justice and mercy. Let us close there -
Rejoicing always,
Bird