First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent!

ad•vent (ad’ vent) n. The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important.

The advent season is a time of expectant waiting. We look forward with excitement to the celebration of Christmas; we wait for the return of longer days after the solstice; and we anticipate the arrival of grace in our hearts.

Grace is a state of being - at peace, free, filled with love & light.

I'll fill the next weeks with decorating, baking, buying gifts, and singing songs... but enfolding the busyness is the simple, deep peace and love of advent. I wait, anticipate, and learn again that transformation is a slow process.

Agenda today:
1. Advent prayer

2. Grace notes
3. Plan activities to express my unity with nature

4. Creative visualization

5. Advent wreath ceremony

1. Advent Prayer:

Photo by Alan Gillespie

May all I say and all I think 

be in harmony with thee, 

God within me, 

God beyond me, 

maker of the trees.

— Chinook prayer, Pacific Northwest Coast

2. Grace notes:
The Greek Bible uses the Greek word charis, which is translated as grace, kindness, favor, or blessing. It means "unmerited favor". My charisma is the gift I got at birth, freely given me. 

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 describes some of the gifts (charismata) that God gives us - wisdom, knowledge, faith, prophecy, discernment, the ability to heal or work miracles - and makes it clear that we do not all receive the same gifts in the same abundance.

My particular set of gifts includes discernment, tenacity, joy in learning, and a loving heart. These are the gifts I have, freely given me and freely offered back to the world.

Advent is a time set aside each year to come into contact with my own need for grace. This year I am taking time most mornings to record the grace I am receiving. I ask:

Where in my life do I need greater peace, love, and light?

What am I waiting for this advent? 

What are whispers, nudges, or clarity am I receiving? 

How can I use my gifts this month to serve my family, my community, and the Earth? 

The more I carry these questions within, and let them penetrate through the layers of distraction and self-protection, the more powerfully I will experience Advent.

3. Plan activities to express my unity with nature:

My theme for this first week of advent is to cherish and care for the earth. I have further reined it to add: Creating sanctuary for nature because nature is our sanctuary.

My goal this week is to reaffirm my unity with nature, and create a welcoming yard. Generally, I do this by giving attention to nature, and by remembering to find joy and fulfillment in simply being alive, instead of in an excess of buying, using, and wasting. When my kids were young, we did earth activities and crafts together all of this week. Now I continue the tradition with my grandson.

Things I might do this week to express unity with nature:

• Spend time outdoors to get in touch with the season. Walk and bike to get places. Visit a wild area or the river. Rake leaves.
• Pay attention to the weather, the outdoor temperature, the birds, the sky, the leaves, the moon cycle. Keep a bird watching journal.
• Learn more about the wildlife that lives in our area in the winter; find out what they eat. Learn the names of the trees in the neighborhood. Learn the names of the clouds.
• Give care to the plants and animals. Feed the wild birds. Give extra attention to our ducks.
• Bring nature indoors- collect greens, pine cones, straw, and other natural materials. Use natural materials to make gifts and decorations.
• Think about the lifestyle choices I make that are harmful to the earth and its creatures, and commit to living more sustainably. Eat vegetarian.

4. Creative Visualization:

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Every month, at the waxing gibbous moon (my last push for action), I call on the practice of visualization to help me to see the next steps towards bringing my goals to fruition.

Today I shine a light on our backyard hot tub and deck project.

Creative visualization is a technique that uses my imagination to create change. (Because of my visual and auditory sensitivity, this is the best process for knowing what I'm feeling.) It has these steps:

• First, set an intention: Say, "Today I call on the Spirit of Love to bring me clarity and open my eyes to a vision of my deck and spa area, complete and beautiful." 

• Center and relax each part of my body: With each breath, allow my awareness to deepen and become softer. No stress. No rush. I walk or float in an imaginary void. Open a connection to Spirit. Feel a soft warmth begin to grow and spread through me, until I am radiating quiet energy.

• Create a clear, detailed picture in my mind, as though the objective has been reached. Paint a vivid mental image of walking outside, seeing the lights and plants, and stepping up clean steps, to hang my towel on a covered hook, close the shutter-screen, and descend into our lovely hot tub to soak, sip a drink, and look out on the bamboo, and the stars (or sunrise); put as much positive energy into the images as possible. 

• Lastly, affirm that this is what I want with a short positive phrase in the present tense: "Today I will take the next steps towards manifesting my back yard oasis."

• Give thanks and return: Saying thanks out loud is how I acknowledge the reality of the gift of my vision.

The thought-image is like a signal-flare that guides the physical thing or deed to manifest in my life (and it's a good way to keep my intentions in my mind). I will carry the vision of the completed goal with me, and focus on it often during the day, in a gentle manner.

5. Advent wreath ceremony:

When my kids were young, I wrote four short advent prayers - one for each week - to recite together as we lit the candles. The prayers hold themes that are still meaningful for us, and we have used them ever since. This year I get to include my two grandsons in the candle ceremony! 

Today, when my family came for lunch, we lit the first advent candle (the green one, for the earth), and said this prayer:

“We light the first candle for the earth, which sustains us. May we cherish and care for it.”

Each night this week, we will let this first candle burn while the kids prepare to return home, and while we eat dinner.