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Wait – It’s Advent.
There are so many reasons to not mark Advent. Let me mention a couple of biggies. It’s exclusively Christian in its origins. I know we now have Advent calendars of many kinds, and of course marketing folks have figured out that this is yet another way to pave the on-ramp to December 25th, but that’s still where it comes from, and as with other things “Christmas”, that isn’t everyone’s home base. Also, despite it’s Christian origins, those of us that “grew up born again” may well have been nurtured in religious environments that ignored it, because it was like a pause button on talking about baby Jesus. Or because it was a thing those Catholic / mainline church people did, and they weren’t Christians, at least not for sure. Right?
So why would I break the momentum of our prolonged consideration of the cheery topic of doubt for that? Lots of reasons, but here’s one. You may have noticed that this pandemic thing is dragging on a bit. You may be finding that disconcerting, difficult, depressing. Me too. It can be very challenging to wait something out. Waiting takes practice, and our culture doesn’t tend to offer much support for it. And Advent is about waiting. So my thinking is that, given the number of years this practice has been around, there might be some lessons on waiting stored in there somewhere, even if we don’t identify with where’s it’s come from or some of the assumptions about what it’s aimed at. So for the next couple of weeks, I’m going to see what I can find, and I invite you to join in.
This Sunday is an in-person gathering at the Plett house. We’ll start at 10:45 a.m with some music and Community Time, then the Talky Bit. We’ll livestream it here, as always. Details about location, etc, as follows:
-Public health regs: these are pinned to the top of our Facebook page and you can check them out in more detail there. Short version – if you are 12 or older, you need to be vaccinated to attend. Bring a mask, and expect to wear it indoors. Our kids are getting vaccinated, which I hope means we can dispense with the indoor masks in the foreseeable future, but until we make a community decision about that, masks it is.
–Our address:If you are reading this on the website, contact me directy for address info. You can best do that by emailing me at <[email protected].>
-Parking – our house is tucked away at the end of long-ish driveway. Come all the way down, and park either in front of the red garage or the brown workshop.
-Ice, ice, baby…despite (I think heroic) efforts, our driveway is VERY slippery. Not a problem for driving as long as you don’t speed, but a bit treacherous for walking. Please, take your time and be careful.
Kids Table – it’s on! Amy has a plan, and unless you go hang out with the Littles, you have to wait until they proudly bring a report afterward to find out what it is. I so look forward to that moment in our gatherings when the kids come charging back in, waving something they’ve made. (Amy…no pressure!)
– Because this an “in-person” Sunday, there won’t be any “And Lunch After” zoom hang. However, there will be a Wednesday evening one. URL as follows:
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By The Table WinnipegThere are so many reasons to not mark Advent. Let me mention a couple of biggies. It’s exclusively Christian in its origins. I know we now have Advent calendars of many kinds, and of course marketing folks have figured out that this is yet another way to pave the on-ramp to December 25th, but that’s still where it comes from, and as with other things “Christmas”, that isn’t everyone’s home base. Also, despite it’s Christian origins, those of us that “grew up born again” may well have been nurtured in religious environments that ignored it, because it was like a pause button on talking about baby Jesus. Or because it was a thing those Catholic / mainline church people did, and they weren’t Christians, at least not for sure. Right?
So why would I break the momentum of our prolonged consideration of the cheery topic of doubt for that? Lots of reasons, but here’s one. You may have noticed that this pandemic thing is dragging on a bit. You may be finding that disconcerting, difficult, depressing. Me too. It can be very challenging to wait something out. Waiting takes practice, and our culture doesn’t tend to offer much support for it. And Advent is about waiting. So my thinking is that, given the number of years this practice has been around, there might be some lessons on waiting stored in there somewhere, even if we don’t identify with where’s it’s come from or some of the assumptions about what it’s aimed at. So for the next couple of weeks, I’m going to see what I can find, and I invite you to join in.
This Sunday is an in-person gathering at the Plett house. We’ll start at 10:45 a.m with some music and Community Time, then the Talky Bit. We’ll livestream it here, as always. Details about location, etc, as follows:
-Public health regs: these are pinned to the top of our Facebook page and you can check them out in more detail there. Short version – if you are 12 or older, you need to be vaccinated to attend. Bring a mask, and expect to wear it indoors. Our kids are getting vaccinated, which I hope means we can dispense with the indoor masks in the foreseeable future, but until we make a community decision about that, masks it is.
–Our address:If you are reading this on the website, contact me directy for address info. You can best do that by emailing me at <[email protected].>
-Parking – our house is tucked away at the end of long-ish driveway. Come all the way down, and park either in front of the red garage or the brown workshop.
-Ice, ice, baby…despite (I think heroic) efforts, our driveway is VERY slippery. Not a problem for driving as long as you don’t speed, but a bit treacherous for walking. Please, take your time and be careful.
Kids Table – it’s on! Amy has a plan, and unless you go hang out with the Littles, you have to wait until they proudly bring a report afterward to find out what it is. I so look forward to that moment in our gatherings when the kids come charging back in, waving something they’ve made. (Amy…no pressure!)
– Because this an “in-person” Sunday, there won’t be any “And Lunch After” zoom hang. However, there will be a Wednesday evening one. URL as follows:
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