Finally a chance to put out my Mozambican nativity! My dad asked if they were Aborigines. (They’d just seen Australia.)
Sunday, we lit the first candle in the Advent wreath at church. You know me — a sucker for sentimentality and tradition. There is something about the ritual of Advent — the time leading up to Christmas — that makes me want to push pause and stop to really gather my thoughts, listen to my breath and feel the wind blowing and nature alive outside my front door. I want to reconnect with my spirit, which tends to get off course when I’m distracted by dozens of other shiny objects (Read: Holiday parties, work deadlines, piles of fabric stacked high, a bike begging for a ride.)
Advent means arrival in many senses. This season, I hope to arrive at a new place of balance. I hope for the arrival of grace when I’m caught in traffic, running behind, tired from too little sleep or stressed about holiday budgets. I pray for the arrival of peace in India, Iraq, Afghanistan and always close to my heart — Zimbabwe. I wish for the arrival of the end of hunger worldwide. I am counting on the arrival of a new sense of purpose in 2009, a clearer idea of what to do with my talents to make my community a bit better.
Thank you for being a great part of the journey.
~K