Dear fellow journeyers on the Way,

Slow Down. Quiet. It’s Advent!

Twenty-two days to wake up to Jesus in your life and in the world.

This is the heading on the poster that we have for each family* to put on your refrigerator in December. A priest named the Rev. Jay Sidebotham created it, and this is the second year we’ve had it. It invites us to do what we desperately want to do – which is not to be mercilessly carried away by the “holidays”.

You know how it goes – one minute it’s almost Thanksgiving, and before you know it – it’s New Year’s Day. And you’ve enjoyed it, and you had some wonderful times, and you gave and received some delightful gifts, but in some sense it was a blur. And you’re tired. And you put on a few pounds. And you now realize how much money you spent. Ouch!

It can be different. But it’s up to you.

You know how we teach and encourage our children and youth to “save themselves for marriage”? Well, I’d like to invite you to “save yourself for Christmas”.

That means taking these next few weeks slowly. Savor the days and the preparations. Hold back a bit so you can let loose when Christmas actually comes.

You see, the Church has a lot to say about preparations for Christmas. But it’s a different kind of preparation than the kind that usually overwhelms us this time of year. It’s a kind of preparation that is life-giving, not life-draining. It’s preparing YOURSELF. Preparing yourself for the coming into the world, once again, of God-in-the-flesh. Save yourself, won’t you? It really will be worth it!

Slow Down. Quiet. It’s Advent!

God bless you all! George+

*posters will be available at church beginning Sunday, December 3