November 30 A-Advent is
a time of preparing for the new age, the “Second Coming”
of the Cosmic Christ, and moving into waiting for the Christmas
birthday of Jesus. This year, we’ll have a little Advent
Alphabet. I encourage you to replace each word with another word that
fits the sense of the season.

Monday-B-Bells are part
of the soundscape of Christmas. It’s not just that we associate
the peals with church, but with the Salvation Army kettle bell, or
the bells on Santa’s sleigh. Something about the almost
heavenly sound sinks into the soul.. Jocelyn is part of the bell
choir at John Knox in Indianapolis. We had a woman from Nashville do
a concert for us at Kingston where she played a whole range as a
one-woman bell choir. We play her Christmas CD to help get in the
holiday spirit. What songs move you into a holiday mode?

Tuesday-C-Comfort and
Joy the song says from the angelic announcement to the shepherds.
With all of the Christmas parties, comfort and joy seem to come in a
bottle or a punch bowl. We seek it in pleasant numbness because we
are poor at offering it. Come to think of it adults are often poor at
receiving comfort. Where do you feel most comfortable? What person
gives you comfort?

Wednesday-D -Deliver.
Mary delivered Jesus; she gave birth. We do well to imagine it as a
birth with all of the pain and anxiety of any birth. We don’t
even know if she had a midwife. After delivery, her child Jesus would
live to deliver all of us. It’s one of those words with a great
range of meanings, but its Latin root deals with freedom, liberation,
release. Freed of the burden of her pregnancy, Mary gave birth to one
who would give us new life, new birth, freedom from the ravages of
sin and death.

Thursday-E-Elizabeth
knew bitter disappointment of wanting a child and the whispers among
the people of why she and her husband could not conceive. As her body
changed, she had long given up that hope. Then, when all reason to
hope was gone, she was going to have a boy. Just as the nation’s
hope was in the doldrums, her son John would be a precursor of new
hope beyond any reason to hold on to that elusive virtue.

Friday-F- Focus is
difficult when so many things clamor for our attention. During this
busy season it seems a good idea to focus on the faith for at least a
little while. Pick a word that is sacred, powerful, meaningful to
you. If you prefer, pick a phrase, a hymn fragment and let it repeat
in your mind, in time with your breath. Maybe write a Christmas card
to God. What kind of card would you pick?

Saturday-G-Gloria is
obviously Latin for glory. Lf the angels sang in Hebrew I assume it
would be kabod. It’s one of the few Latin words Protestant
churches have kept. I usually think of glory as a synonym for being
in the presence of God. The presence evokes the desire to glorify: to
honor, praise and thank God. We call some experiences, glorious at
rare times. The glory of God was hidden in a manger at Bethlehem
years ago. Divine Glory doesn’t require pomp. Its splendor
shines from within.