In the past three weeks, I've been to three churches that had three different approaches to Advent. (Perhaps one of them is like your congregation!)

On the first week of the start of the church year, I saw the "Recognition-Avoidance" approach. The nondenominational church's worship leader made a passing reference to the fact that it was the "start of the Christmas season in the church. (Pause) Or, actually, it's the start of Advent." He then went on to read a "traditional Advent scripture," (which he immediately tied to Easter!) and thus end-eth the Advent/Christmas references for the rest of the hour. On Sunday 2, I saw the "Satisfaction Guaranteed" approach when I attended a United Methodist Church that sings Christmas carols during a pre-service hymn-sing but faithfully sticks to Advent themes within the service itself. And last Sunday, I witnessed the "Chris-adven-tmas" approach when I visited a Baptist church where we read a brief Advent liturgy, sang a few Christmas carols, heard a long sermon that was vaguely Advent-ish, and closed with "Go Tell it On the Mountain."

Did you catch the common theme? Like a child that can't avoid poking the presents under the tree, all three had a hard time with waiting to celebrate Christmas.

Although he wasn’t born in a stable, the circumstances surrounding the birth of John the Baptist were certainly unusual. Elizabeth was old, and considered to be barren, when she became pregnant. Zechariah was struck mute until the baby was named. And his parents went against tradition and named him John instead of Zechariah! Is it any wonder that people asked, “What, then will this child become?” (Luke 1:66)

You are invited...

Dear God,

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I am bombarded from every side by advertisements urging me to spend, spend, spend…the kids are home from school…the calendar is full…church activities, school concerts, volleyball games, Christmas pageant, sleepovers and more…there are six loads of laundry waiting…my daughter wants to go shopping…snow is on its way…there are bills to pay…and worries about whether there is enough money to pay them…and then there will be additional bills that Christmas shopping will create…the dog wants outside…I am feeling overwhelmed…I’m tired…my son wants to go to the library…there is grocery shopping to be done…and meals to be fixed…every day…the dog wants back in…our annual letter needs to be written and printed and folded and stamped and mailed…and I’ve agreed to take on another responsibility…what was I thinking…my best friend has moved…to another state…and I miss her a lot…the cat wants to help me type…when did Christmas become less about the Christ child and more about shopping...the car’s oil needs to be changed…the dog wants to go for a walk…there are 12 years of photos waiting to be put into albums…and then there are things that I want to do…

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25, NRSV)

After saying these words, Jesus further explains that, just as God feeds the birds and clothes the lilies of the field, God will care for human beings. Don’t worry; God knows what you need.

Every day I have a choice.

I'll admit that I sometimes struggle to keep my writing—whether for The Daily Voice or for publication—to a manageable length. But occasionally I find I’m struck with that malady almost all who put pen to paper (or finger to key) know and fear—writer’s block. This is one of those times. So here I offer you some “writer’s blocks”— 3 short, loosely connected thoughts and stories that just didn't want to turn into a full post by themselves.

A sixth grade girl, an only child,
living with two parents who are
well-educated and financially secure.
Also in her life are loving grandparents, a doting aunt,
and an uncle, whose family supplies a couple of cousins.
Like a typical 12 year old girl, friends are important to her.
Any opportunity to get together is a good thing,
particularly if it involves a sleepover.

When I walk in the fall, I collect leaves. I pick up “particularly fine specimens” and take them home. Sometimes I press them and use them as a centerpiece or in some other creative way. Often they simply add color to the kitchen table until they dry and curl up and I return them to the outdoors. (I wonder if anyone has ever seen a pile of my recycled “particularly fine specimens” and imagined a tree that dropped all these different kinds of leaves in one place.)

There is no single characteristic that makes a leaf a “particularly fine specimen”. They are not necessarily the perfect, unblemished leaves. Instead, they are the leaves that catch my eye and capture my attention for one reason or another.

Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.  (1 Peter 3:15-16, The Message)

As a writer, it's easy for me to hide behind the glow of my laptop and type away about my faith. I have the luxury of carefully choosing my words, pondering some witty or thoughtful response to a question or writing only about the topics of interest to me. But in "real life" conversations, the right words often do not come to mind, and I kick myself later for not having said something brilliant. Here's a recent example.

I visited what is probably the most conservative congregation in my community as part of my ongoing effort to attend worship with every faith group in town. This particular church uses the King James Bible in worship, has a hymnal that dates to 1972 (filled with the kind of songs you'd hear at a tent revival), and sends out people to knock on the doors of recent visitors like myself to ask questions like, "If you died today, are you a million percent sure of where you'd be going?" (Yes, that's an exact quote!)