Waiting......For A Long Ago Birth

It was the perfect night, if you didn’t mind the cold. I certainly didn’t. Not last night. One hundred luminaries guided the way to the chapel, where we were treated to a beautiful Advent service. It was led by the team that leads my spiritual formation program. The spiritual director of the program is a woman whom I’ve admired for a long time. She’s also an accomplished author whose books I’ve read, over and over.

Super Hubs and I were a little in awe as we were invited back to her home for a Celebration. Her beautiful house was nestled amid a grove of large, snowy pines. We enjoyed delicious food and wine by the toasty fireplace. She was warmly hospitable, and truly present to everyone in her house. The real deal.

Last Christmas season, her writings inspired me to resurrect our Advent Wreath. It had been camping in a box in the basement for the past 14 years, when we left our childhood Catholic faith for an evangelical, non-liturgical church. A longing in me had surfaced to begin celebrating the rythms of the church year and teach them to my children. This author helped me to see this as a spiritual practice, and to appreciate the thrill of inhabiting the story of the Christian year.

So, for the second year in a row, my Advent Wreath proudly sits in the middle of my kitchen table for the month. We light the appropriate candles over dinner, read a devotional with the kids, and pray together. I am pretty militant about making my family eating dinner together on most nights. I asked, the other evening, over a lit purple candle, for specific names of people that we could be in prayer for. Rock Star shared a name that was on his heart, and Super Hubs and I did as well. Little Squirt shook his head. “I’m not going to just pray for one person,” he said. “I’m going to pray right now for everyone in the entire world.” And he proceeded to say a long, 8yo-literate prayer that covered all people on the planet.

So, if you are reading this, know that the faith of a little boy brought your name straight up to God one frosty evening last week.