Advent, the Second Week

This is the irrational season when love blooms bright and wild. / Had Mary been filled with reason, there’d have been no room for the child. {Madeleine L’Engle}

I believe that if something (anything) is going to happen, I’d best push and pry to make it so. I take comfort in my rightness, in my well-formed opinions, in knowing when to speak or even when to shut my mouth – but always me knowing (correctly, precisely) the when for either. I think what all this truly means is that I love illusions. I love the bewitching notion that I have a firm grip on the steering wheel of my life, my identity, whatever will come of me – if only I manage better, twist harder, figure another puzzle out.

And then there is Advent.

Was there anything:
~Mary could do to have the Son of God formed in her womb?
~the Roman Empire could do to stop this rival King from arriving?
~Israel could to do to hasten the coming of the Redeemer?
Is there anything, really, that I can do to manage all my chaos?

Doesn’t it seem insanity: to take inventory of all that must be done – all that needs to be tended to, fought for, worked out – and just simply wait? Madeleine was certainly right. In every way, this is a most “irrational season.”

No matter how many ways we turn it, we won’t be able to make sense of God appearing as a fragile, helpless baby. The logic of divinity taking shape in humility will not emerge from any formula or theorem I’m familiar with. With John the Baptist, God speaks from the wilderness, the fringes. With a Cross and Resurrection, God speaks the preposterous and the unimaginable. With his arrival in a filthy manger in the womb of a teenage girl, God holds out the improbably, the ludicrous – and asks us to wait. And believe.

____

Last week’s Advent gift (a copy of Touching Wonder) went to Dayna Schoonmaker. Hope you are enjoying it, Dayna.

This week, our gift is super yummy. One of our new Charlottesville friends, Lisa Procter, makes the most delectable scones – and she sells her hand crafted mixes at Queen of Puddings. So, leave a comment here by midnight Tuesday night – and we will have another drawing (managed by the security firm of Wyatt and Seth). The winner will receive a scone mix of your choice. ***Please make sure I have a way to contact you – or check back on Wednesday where I will leave a comment naming the winner.

And I must add, these scones would make wonderful Christmas gifts. They taste fabulous – and the boxes they are packaged in are beautiful. You don’t even need to wrap them. We bought a couple for the boy’s teachers as Christmas gifts (I really hope I didn’t just ruin a surprise).

15 Replies to “Advent, the Second Week”

  1. This is fantastic Winn. It goes right along with what our group talked about on last Wednesday. We talked about Isaiah 53 and how God created advent back then in the words of Isaiah. So crazy that one would come and fulfill those words so many years later.

  2. At our new church, WCF (Washington Community Fellowship- no kidding), we sang O Come Emmanuel, and I cried over the memories of celebrating Advent at our DCF. DCF's version of that song still gives me goosebumps.
    (and I like scones!)

  3. Michael, you know you only get one drop in the hat, right? Not one for you and one for Catan? I mean you are soooo sneaky!

    Amy, WCF – that is really too much. But I hear you on the tears, I've had those moments.

  4. Good words, Winn. My translation of "Behold!" is "watch this!" as in God saying, "Hey, watch this…you ain't gonna believe it!" God probably wouldn't say ain't…then again, hard to know. Thanks again for giving away the book last week.

    Do you have to wear an ascot when you eat scones?

  5. Thanks for this weeks post – always a helpful reminder to let go! I got my book in the mail and am 1 book away from starting it. Cant wait!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top