The advent of Advent

 

Art work: "The Four" by Tricia Robertson
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba  

Good Saturday morning, good people who stand with me here, on this 30th and last day of the 11th month of the Gregorian Calendar, at the advent of the Liturgical Season of Advent.

I will have a lot of things to say about Advent and the lectionary lessons for tomorrow but there are Christmas decorations to schlepp out of the storage shed, and backs to be made sore by the moving and opening of large boxes of Very Important Memories, and curses to be said loudly into the cosmos because I can't find something I know I put *right there*.

I'm fairly limited in the schlepping department this year as recovery and healing are making good progress and no one wants to mess with any of that.

Even so, it's ADVENT, for goodness sake! It's time to light small sparks of anticipation under the pot of Incarnational Stew which will be stirred, eventually, into becoming the full, roiling boil of Christmas excitement.

For now, just a few small sparks, here and there. The Advent Wreath is on the dining room table which has a festive tablecloth of Christmas colors. We are ready for tomorrow night when we'll light the first Advent candle. A very dear friend came over and helped us set up the outdoor creche scene.

This morning, I'll put up our Fontanini set which I've been collecting for, oh my goodness, it's easily been 30 years, if not more. As much as I love that one, I think my favorite is the small, felt one I bought in Jerusalem at Sunbula, a non-profit fair trade organization, and made in Bethlehem by children and adults who are members of the L'Arche Community known as Ma'an Lil-Hayat. Oh, let me take just a moment to tell you about them.

Ma'an Lil-Hayat means 'together for life' in Arabic, and was founded in August 2009 as a project of the International Federation of L'Arche Communities. Ma'an Lil-Hayat brings together about 40 people from refugee camps and villages in the Bethlehem area with and without intellectual disabilities to share life through work, celebration, and mutual relationships of friendship and trust. Their workshop is located just a few steps from The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The nativity set - and all other Christmas ornaments - is made of felt from natural sheep wool that is purchased from local shepherdesses, many of them Bedouin. The entire project is overseen and supervised by Muslim women and the profits made from the sale of their work go to help restore dignity to the lives of the disabled and oppressed in Palestine.

God only knows what has happened to them since 10/7/23. I have not been able to get any information or order anything from their website. I pray for them daily. These Muslim women, refugees, and adult children with disabilities stand, in their own way, as Hearlds for us of the Incarnation. We could learn a great deal from their example. (https://www.sunbula.org/)

God keep them safe and well during these very dark days.

Over the years we have come to understand that, in many ways, Advent is a Marian Season. We pattern our spirituality from the elements of the character of Mary, the Theotokos, the God-bearer. In the Season of Advent, the Season of Mary, our ears are better tuned to hear the voices and the wisdom of women.

I have compiled the words of some of the wisest women I know - including the voices of two young women - and have used them as the words Benediction at the end of each service in Advent and Christmas.

They are: Maya Angelou, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Coretta Scott King, Greta Thunberg, and Malala Yousafzia.

I will be using these blessings to end our time of prayer at the Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy on Sunday evening at 5:30 PM, on the Facebook page of St. Peter’s, Lewes, DE (https://www.facebook.com/SaintPetersLewes/).

I offer them to you today, on the advent of Advent, for your consideration and use. Our days have become so dark and frightening that our faith, on examination, may appear small and meek and vulnerable.

May these blessings provide small sparks of anticipation and preparation that will grow in strength to the full celebration of the coming again of Christ in our midst.

We might miss the Incarnation because Christ may appear to us as small and insignificant as our faith right now.

Because we feel so weak and anxious, we may want Christ to appear big and strong, confident and bold, but Christ may appear to us as a Muslim or Jewish woman or Bedouin shepherdess or an adult with intellectual or physical disabilities that make them seem childlike.

The Heralds of Advent tell us that Christ will come, not in the armor of a warrior or the robes of a king, but wrapped in bands of the cloth salvaged by those who are poor or those who are refugees in a place ravaged by the evils of war who hold onto the broken, pointed shards of hope in their broken hearts.

It is time to wait and listen with the poor, to watch and hope with those whose lives have been devasted by illness or death. It is a time to plant seeds in the hard, cold ground. Light candles in the midst of darkness. Sing songs of joy in the face of despair. Ululate like a Middle Eastern woman to express emotions that can not be communicated merely with words. Look for community in the midst of your loneliness. Expect the unexpected.

Most of all, take the time to examine your heart and your soul and try to find the courage to live your life like you mean what you believe, even though that will be seriously tested and challenged in the days ahead.

If you don't look, how will you find?

I hope something good happens to you today.

Bom dia.

BLESSINGS OF THE WORDS OF WOMEN 

IN ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS

ADVENT I
May faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good. May you learn that you still have a lot to learn. May gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And the blessing of God, Creator, Word, and Holy Spirit be upon you and those you love and pray for this day, and forevermore. Amen (Maya Angelou)

ADVENT II
May you fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you. May you be able to disagree without being disagreeable. May you be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability. And the blessing of God, Creator, Word, and Holy Spirit be upon you and those you love and pray for this day, and forevermore. Amen (Ruth Bader Gingsburg)

ADVENT III
May we know that nonviolence is the only credible response to violence. May we know that revenge and retaliation always perpetuate the cycle of anger, fear, and violence. May we know that the greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate action of its members. And the blessing of God, Creator, Word, and Holy Spirit be upon you and those you love and pray for this day, and forevermore. Amen (Coretta Scott King)

ADVENT IV
Let us take action and do the impossible because giving up is never an option. May we learn that together and united, we are unstoppable. May we know that the climate crisis has already been solved; all we have to do is wake up and change. And the blessing of God, Creator, Word, and Holy Spirit be upon you and those you love and pray for this day, and forevermore. Amen (Greta Thunberg)

CHRISTMAS
Let us pick up our books and pens and know that one child, one teacher, one pen, one book can change the world. May we learn that someone may take away our pens and books, but they can not stop our minds from thinking. May our fear never be stronger than our courage. And the blessing of God, Creator, Word, and Holy Spirit be upon you and those you love and pray for this day, and forevermore. Amen (Malala Yousafzia)

Compiled by Elizabeth Kaeton+. Permission to reproduce with proper attribution, please. Thank you