The blog has been silent due to 1)migraines, 2)out of town guests, 3)head colds and 4) that thing you do when you’ve had migraines, out of town guests and head colds, so the house becomes one major disaster area, and no one remembers to pay the bills and oh-by-the-way the camping stuff from last summer hasn’t been put away properly and is stacked in front of the Christmas decorations which the kids want to get out right now!

Oh, and also, when I checked on my blog a week or so ago it had a couple thousand (not kidding) p*rn sites in the comments and so I had to make all my previous entries “closed” to comments – and then spend a couple hours trying to clean off my site. (Thanks Paul for helping me!) [you can also check out the MT-Blacklist to help you.]

So…to all you nice folks who have been popping in the last few weeks – thanks! And to those of you who emailed me asking about our Advent practices, thanks too. Here’s an entry just for you.

Advent at ThPM

Advent is a season of waiting, of preparation. In our home, our intentions for Advent involve two things: slowing down and sinking in. Paul and I offer those intentions to our tribe at ThPM, and we model them in our Thursday night gatherings, as well as throughout the week. Each year looks a little different, but here’s how were practicing slowing down and sinking in this year.

Slowing Down

It’s tricky to slow down in the frenzied shopping-and-event season that runs from roasted sage turkey to spiral cut ham. Too often Advent just becomes “the holiday season” and we spend all of our time consuming: consuming goods, consuming experiences, consuming food. So the first thing we do each year is to chose. We chose which fistful of traditions we consciously want to celebrate this year. We decline parties (sooooo hard for me to do!) We resist the urge to go to every Jingle Bell Fun Run and living nativity. We make two kinds of cookies instead of five. (‘Though I’ve chosen to keep the tradition of doing that scaled down baking with my housemate Sharon. I really love our two-gals-in-the-kitchen annual baking day.) We buy just one gift for each child. We don’t send Christmas cards. We make a tradition of stew on Christmas Eve instead of standing rib roast with all the trimmings.

As a “pastor” I get lots of invitations to be involved in stuff this time of year. But for ThPM I’ve decided to stick with our year-round priority of using our time to connect with people outside of the church. This means that I’ve declined invitations to be involved in any church-based activity which will attract mostly already-churched folks. We’re not organizing any Christmas Eve services, and we aren’t making art installations for the youth-group Advent vigil. Now hear what I’m saying, please! I’m not saying that these things aren’t worth while. I’m just saying that what we are being called to focus on is missional/incarnational living within our neighborhoods and amongst people in need. So we make different choices.

Last year we threw a big house party for all our neighbors and friends. It was called “Immerse” and the idea was to let people step into the Advent/Christmas story in a non-obtrusive way. We wanted to honor our story, without shoving it down anyone’s throat. Each room of our house was decorated in a different theme. The shepherds’ room looked like a starlit campsite—until music blared and the strobe lights came on to simulate the angel’s announcement. The bedroom looked like an astronomers den, complete with Melchior’s diary for a little semi-historical voyeurism. My office was a womb room wrapped in red fabric, lit with red lights, and featuring a shrine to the unborn Christ. (Lindel mixed an in-utero video of a fetus with ambient music and some text.) The basement was our post-modern urban stable where we threw a kid-oriented birthday party for Jesus. Each room had drinks and food and places to sit and talk. The house was packed. I highly recommend it.

But his year we are tired. We don’t have much money. A couple of our folks are finishing finals after returning to school. We can’t throw another party like that one. However…we can join “the party at their house.” That is, we can reconnect with the folks we met at the Solstice Parade by being a part of the Winter Solstice Feast. So this year, we are joining their party. Some of us will be making headdresses, dipping candles, and cooking up our very festive best for the potluck feast on the longest night of the year. I, for one, will be very ready to celebrate the turning of the seasons. In Seattle it starts to dim around 3:30pm and it’s not fully light again until 7:30am—and even then the “sunlight” is grey and filtered. So celebrating the last short day and the lengthening next day is very culturally appropriate. And there’s overlap to dance in with the wild neighborhood artists who organize these Solstice shin digs. We’ve got stuff in common, we the neo-monastics and they, the neo-pagans. It goes something like: for the people who walked in darkness will see a great light….and the light will come into the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it. So hurrah for the light! Hurrah for the waiting season! Hurrah for the ebbing of darkness! That’s worth decking the halls.

The other thing I’ve committed ThPM to is an act of service. We’ve been trying to practice the practice of compassion lately. We’ve learned about sexual slavery in Asia, genocide in Sudan, atrocities (at our own hands) in Iraq, and homelessness in our own city. We’ve prayed and given money, but we haven’t been able to serve as a group. Thankfully my friend-and-mentor Rose Swetman has a party going on at her house. She and her husband Rich co-pastor the Vineyard Community Church in North Seattle. Once a quarter they house four homeless families for a week. It’s part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network, which is a great program. Rose and Rich are hosting the families the week of Christmas. Where most congregations would groan at the idea of having 20 people living in their church building during one of the high holy days, VCC is stoked. They are lining up meal providers, they are throwing a big Christmas Eve party, they are asking their families to forget about their presents and just send new linens for the roll-out cots. It’s inspiring. So on little Christmas Eve (the 23rd) ThPM will be spending our “church” time making supper – inside a church – for people who are normally standing around freezing on the outside. It will be small, and we will feel like a drop in the bucket, but it will be obedience, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Sinking In

We have two priorities as a community: up and out. So we’ve got some Advent plans to get us out, to help us learn how to be bigger than ourselves. But what about connecting up? What about sinking into our ‘family story’ of a baby born in a manger, of a God willing to hang with the created? We slow down here too. We just do one thing, over and over. We light the candles, we breathe deep, we read a story. This was the core of our in-house Advent celebrations last year, and it will be the core of this year as well. Each week we’ll pick a theme. This year it’s Promises, Light, and Emmanuel. (The fourth week we’ll be cooking). We’ll read a passage, light the Advent wreath. Sing a song or two. Hear a story. Do a ritual to embody that story. Close with a blessing. There’s no artsy film. There’s no special written music. We’re keeping it simple. It’s what we need; time to slow down…time to remember the story….time to practice bringing in light as we wait for light. We’ll invoke the light–asking it to come, we’ll celebrate it’s already-presence. I’m looking forward to these simple practices which turn our feeble flashlight beams towards the source of all the great mystery, where they in turn are engulfed in light. I feel hopeful…Come to think about it, I guess that’s a good place to start. Isn’t hope what all that Advent waiting is all about?

Places to Get Started

Figuring Out How to Slow Down: Oprah Magazine’s life coach has wonderful ideas for how to pick what matters. click here

Finding Meditations for Advent: Try these this great site that Alicia found.

A Different Way to Think about Consumerism: Sacred Space’s unique take on consumerism.

Music To Slow Down and Celebrate With, Harp 46: Listen to First Snow, then email April and see if she’ll sell you a copy of the Christmas album they cut last year.

Readings to Sink Into: Try Watch for the Light, a collection of essay from Merton, Annie Dillar, Nouwen, etc.
Or rediscover picture books with the best Nativity ever, done in watercolor by Julie Vivas. (You’ve got to love angels in combat boots. See it at Amazon, buy it at Bean Books.)
Or my top recommendation, pick up The Soulsister’s Guide to a Very Merry Christmas, only $7! It’s written by the blogsphere’s very own Jen Lemen and her soon-to-be famous sister, Patience. I already used their advice over Thanksgiving. (I’ll tell you about it later, but it involved mixing drinks by 11:30am!)