Advent Care

“In the 6th century, the Celtic Christians celebrated Advent during the 40 days before Christmas, as a mirror to the period of Lent before Easter. In this age of  blurring of holy-days and consumerism, I like the idea of starting Advent earlier, so that Thanksgiving is included, but also so there can be a longer, more intentional preparation for Christ’s coming.” “Celtic Advent”‘

Even though all of us who attended an Episcopal Church started Advent last week, Christine and I always get an early start 40 days before Christmas. For us this connection to the Celtic Christian tradition began many years ago when we celebrated a portion of our honeymoon on Iona…one of the centers of Celtic spirituality.

Given the very difficult days that we and all our neighbors are all experiencing as the COVID pandemic, including the most recent new variant, I suspect we would all benefit from not only longer seasons of Advent as we continue to journey into the troubled 2020s.

With the huge sense of loss so many are experiencing, all of us need to also welcome with much more celebration the coming of the good news of Jesus. Christine Sine wrote a book before the Pandemic titled The Gift of Wonder because it reminds us of that very good news.

We urge you to take precautions during your Christmas celebrations to keep your family and friends safe as an expression of the love of the one we celebrate.
Tom Sine www.newchangemakers.com