Image by hiromy via FlickrBlueAdvent is the four weeks preceding Christmas and is a time of waiting and preparation for the arrival of the Christ Child. More and more church traditions are celebrating this special time of year. The next few weeks I will be posting information and reflections about the colors and meaning of Advent.Last Tuesday I shared about the color purple and Advent. But many churches are no longer using purple as much during this season. Even my own church’s vestments are now blue instead of purple. Purple represents the concept of repentance similar to the Lenten season. Blue symbolizes the expectant nature of the season as in the early blue skies each morning. In the predawn moments while it is still dark, we anticipate the coming King’s arrival.I have also read the blue signifies the water in first chapter of Genesis - the beginning of a new creation.As a color blue is symbolic of hope, expectation, and heaven.  It is also the color associated with the Virgin … [Read more...]

Image by CmdrFire via Flickr Advent is the four weeks preceding Christmas and is a time of waiting and preparation for the arrival of the Christ Child. More and more church traditions are celebrating this special time of year. The next few weeks I will be posting information and reflections about the colors and meaning of Advent.WAITMost of us don’t like to wait. Just lingering around, watching, killing time, not sure of what lies ahead drives us crazy. I have read that the average person will spend 5 years of his or her life waiting in line, 2 years playing telephone tag, and six months sitting at red lights. We are not patient people. We want it now. We fill the waiting time with twitches, fiddling, and complaining.But during Advent we do become waiting people. We pause, breath in the blues and purple of the Advent season and savor the stillness of this sacred time.Waiting isn’t always easy but can be fruitful.Waiting creates a space to slow down and refocus our … [Read more...]

Image via WikipediaAdvent is the four weeks preceding Christmas and is a time of waiting and preparation for the arrival of the Christ Child. More and more church traditions are celebrating this special time of year. The next few weeks I will be posting information and reflections about the colors and meaning of Advent.PurplePurple seems like an odd choice for colors to decorate the sanctuary. Isn’t this time of year all red, green and gold? Yet historically the primary color of Advent is purple.When I was a student nurse at Capital University, we wore purple uniforms. In her usual haughty manner, our dean would tell us, “Purple is the color of royalty.” We felt more like a bunch of grapes when squeezed into the hospitals’ elevator.But through the years, purple has represented a King and royalty. Purple is also the color of repentance connecting this season with the spirit of Lent. The nativity of our Lord is linked with His crucifixion. Actually at one point Advent was called “The … [Read more...]

                               Image via WikipediaMost of us are stuffed in the United States from overeating our Thanksgiving meal and are taking a break by roving the Internet between the Macy Day Parade and before kickoff of the big game.How about some fun facts about Thanksgiving? You can use these pieces of trivia to impress your friends and family:The word turkey is said to come from Hebrew “Tukki” meaning big bird or pheasant bird.  Yep, we are eating Big Bird – don’t tell the youngun’s.True or False? The Pilgrims brought beer along with them on the ships – TrueHow many pilgrim women survived to celebrate that first Thanksgiving? Only five and they did all the cooking!Who was the first balloon in the 1927 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade?  Felix the CatIn the early 1600s what eating utensil didn’t the Pilgrim have?  The fork wasn’t invented yet.A full-grown turkey has more than 3,000 feathers. The cranberry is a symbol and a modern diet staple of thanksgiving. Originally called crane … [Read more...]