'Tis the Season

Yesterday I started off with a sort of devotional, exploring a little of what I hold to be the essence of Advent and Christmas. Why I find it to be soul-nourishing, and how I find earth-shaking glory in things like Christmas Spirit. It's the "true myth", the One True Story being told over and over in every story that we read and live. If every genuine good comes from above, then it is possible to see the will of God in chocolate cake, and the kindling of hope in a bone-crushing hug. I learned this first in nature, and then explored it through writers like C.S. Lewis, and experienced it in my own relationship with God. You can see the death and resurrection cycle in the life of a dandelion, hear the story of the gospel in every book on my shelves, feel an ache of longing for a world beyond this world, a kingdom beyond this country, in every poignant beauty, in every 'almost', in loss, in hope, in optimism. In every moment you wish could last forever, or hunger you long to be satisfied.

I won't spend the whole of this month philosophizing, I promise. But I love this turn of season. It used to be the autumn that woke in me an annual yearning to study and expound, to explore and analyze. Perhaps its the city, or the busyness of work at the beginning of the school year that hasn't enabled me to quite catch my breath enough to revel in nature's wonders, or philosophize, or write poetry like I used to. At least not as regularly or as seasonally. And I won't forget that this year has been a hell of one.

But with the first October snows, my eyes start to twinkle in anticipation. I start to watch for ice on the sloughs, and feel a rising expectancy. As rosy sunrises transform the early November skies, and slate-grey afternoons follow, inspiration stirs. When they light the trees in downtown St Paul, I let go one long sigh. It is as if certain seasons and qualities of light leave me primed to write, as others do not. Now, when I hear a conversation, or an audiobook, or a sermon, sometimes my mind will just fasten on to a topic and worry away at it until I can put pen to paper. Welcome to my online aerie! That's what I do here.

Onward, then! Let's decorate for Christmas. I got the chance to spend time with my sister's family over the weekend: a very rare treat in this tumultuous year. But oh so good for the heart! Is there anything better than children who will run across a whole room just to hug you? 

And one of the joys of this visit was being able to help them put up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. I'd made a haul of second-hand decor and festive paraphernalia (shout out to Hidden Treasures thrift store in St. Anthony) and was all set to deck the halls in great style. 

It was a relaxing weekend of decorating, straightening, baking; leftover Thanksgiving food, passing on outgrown clothes, and watching and reading Hugo, for all sweet steampunk adventurous coziness. I gave Katie one of those fillable Advent Calendars, that I've been filling with small happy treasures over the last weeks. We put together the advent wreath so that it was ready to be lit yesterday. We found festive sparkly bits to adorn bedrooms and bookshelves. The tree is ready for the wrapped presents as they come.

And on my way out of town, I swung through the Christmas-light-show. Programmed to blink to the beat of the local Christmas station songs, it is a feast of cheer, lights, and abundance of color. It works so well, too, staying warm and mobile and socially distanced during a thoroughly seasonal experience.

Christmas? Advent?

What do I mean by Advent? What does Christmas mean to me?

To start with, Christmas is about Christ coming to us. One of His names is Emmanuel, "God has come to be with us".

In Colossians it says, "It was the Father's good pleasure (joy) for all fullness to dwell (live) in Him (Jesus)". So all the fullness of God came to abide with us, in the form of Jesus, because joy. 

In John, Jesus goes on to say that when we invite Him to abide in our hearts and lives, then our hearts and lives abide in Him, and He says it "so that His joy would be in us, so that our joy would be full." 

So right away we see that Christmas is all about joy, fullness, and togetherness.

These are things we feel an aching need for in our day to day lives, but especially in a year like this, where the whole world around us is groaning. The Romans passage says "all creation groans as if in childbirth... waiting for sonship" and so we are: aching as one waiting for the birth of a Son. 

So we come to those words, so commonly heard at Advent: watching and waiting. But let me invite you into a more active role here. I read recently how seeking after happiness you don't have is a negative experience, while accepting grief is a positive one. It sounds a little odd, but follow me here: I am not inviting you to resist or subdue your pain, or to strive achingly toward a joy you don't feel. I am asking you to accept the real griefs you find yourself under, and to actively step into expectation and hope.

First, we remember that our Advent is not like the time before Christ came. They didn't know when the Messiah would come, or how he would dwell among us. They didn't know Jesus, like we can; or hold his teachings in their hands; or know how His people would spread across the whole world.

And so even as we pause to remember that time before: the prophecies leading up, the mounting anticipation... even as we sit in the ache we still carry, the prophecies yet to be fulfilled, and all those tears yet to be dried.... we are going to remember that the battle is won. We are going to remember Jesus' open hands and his gentle words: "I call you friends, not servants. You are brothers to me. Come closer, sister. We are family. You belong here, by my side."

Advent for us is full of Christmas. Glowing with the joy and fullness that is God-come-to-us. Don't wait to let the comfort of His coming soothe your soul and renew your strength. 

Watching and waiting for the Kingdom is all about the now and the not yet. We wait for the returning Savior, we wait for His Kingdom to be as it should be. We wait for the cessation of war and suffering and brokenness. We wait for heaven and resurrection. 

But we don't wait for a redeemer. He has come for us. We don't wait for belonging. Those arms are open. We don't wait until we're better, or have it figured out. Because He didn't wait. He came as a doctor, and he came for the broken, he came to be near those with shattered hearts, to heal crushed spirits. He came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. So don't wait. Come.

And when life doesn't feel so abundant? That's where the watching comes in. See, the watching isn't just for that far-off fulfillment we are waiting for. It's keeping a weather-eye out all through Advent, and through Christmas, and into the new year, and beyond. We don’t want to miss anything. We are watching for the Kingdom here on earth: to see Emmanuel in the every day: miracles of joy and fullness; abundance, life, togetherness, belonging, a light in a dark place. This is the Spirit of Christmas.

This is Advent. Jesus has come to live with you. To fill your empty,  broken cup. To sit with you until your joy springs up like a new day. This is Christmas. A time to come together in any ways that we can. To be exuberant in our joy, and merry in our gratitude. To enter into the fullness of Christ, echoed in the chaotic abundance of this season.

You belong here. Wherever you find yourself, this season is for you. Pull up a chair and make yourself at home. He did. There's room to rest and room to stretch. Take my hand, it's gonna be a ride.

Pie

 

 

Blogmas, anyone?

 

Despite 'Blogmas' being a rather frightful word, I find the idea to be a smashing one. And so I've decided to try it out this year! What better year for entertainment, solidarity, and creativity? 2020, we're going out with a bang; a lively burst of celebration and season of lights to usher out the dark, to welcome in a Savior, sorely needed, and to usher in the new year.

Each day in December I'll be posting here, with Christmas as the running theme. I'll post pictures and tell stories about something I've done that's shatteringly Christmassy. I'll share what I'm doing for Advent, and what speaks most to my soul, in contemplation, expectancy, and peace amidst the tumult.

There will be anecdotes from work, and jokes on being single during the holidays. Book recommendations, recipes, and movie nights. We'll brainstorm ways to be insanely festive while staying safe during lock-downs, restrictions, and quarantines. And generally spread good cheer and Christmas Spirit with a lavish hand during the weirdest year in memory. 

Come along for the ride?

We start in two weeks: Sunday, November 29th, the first day of Advent. Sign up with your email if you want to be updated whenever I post something new (there's a widget on the sidebar there).

In the meantime, I'm off to launch Christmas at the coffee-shop. You'll catch me in a Santa-hat, roasting coffee to beat the band, decorating the place into a Winter Wonderland, and serving Candy-Cane Mochas in cups that look like Christmas sweaters. 

If you know me well, you know I turn into a bit of an elf at this time of year. Give me a little snow and promise of yuletide, and I go all-out in making everything around me as festive as humanly possible. Hope to see you around, and for sure back here for Blogmas.

An unexpected week

 So. Phase three of Covid-19 is something else, huh? I write to you from quarantine, locked in a beautiful room, figuring out when my employees can all go back to work, and reading Georgette Heyer.

Many of you know that during the original lockdowns early this year, I was one of the fortunate few who were able to work all the way through it. I was never officially quarantined... until now. I got tested on an off chance, and it came back positive, which really did a number on the Holiday Drink Launch at work.

The good news is, I have a week to work on all those projects...

Coming off the stress of last week, I'm not exactly sorry for a chance to do nothing. And honestly, I have enough projects to last me a long time. Longer than this quarantine will give me. So far, I've read a whole book, watched a few movies (mostly Christmas movies), finished the felt-pen sketches for my picture-book illustrations (still have to watercolor and assemble), and started folding paper so I can cut out snowflakes. I still have a crochet project to start, I plan to sew new masks for the festive season...

First I'm going to sleep off this headache, and then we'll see what accomplishments and what rest this week has to offer.

Peace be with you all. Take care of each other. Wash your hands and wear your masks and keep your gatherings small. But draw your circles large with love and openness, and even though our large circles will have to be long-distance, virtual, and different... keep reaching out, pouring out love, offering up prayer. We all need each other, even more so this year. We're made for connection. 

See you back here soon,

Peace

I have immortal longings in me

And though I hold no power in myself

No crown, no kingdom, not a claim to wealth

I cannot count myself among the poor

For daily laid outside my door

Are the riches of eternity

As strewn among the stars

As built with words and imagery

And strong as life and death

And wavering hope that cannot die

Somehow I feel that the stronger my wings

And the weaker my cage

The more confinement leans in upon me

I find myself afraid that in some way

My capacity's wealth of words and worlds,

Eternity, and thoughts that go on and on to inspiration...

Might crush me under their very weight,

Or worse than ever yet... 

Cease to come