Looking Forward to Christmas

After Sister Cox spoke about Thanksgiving on November 30, Brother Cox spoke about looking forward to Christmas. He described a simple notebook his father had made with scriptures to be read daily as Christmas approached. Something like the Catholic tradition of Advent, but designed for his own family. I think this is a fine way to transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Here's an explanation of Advent for non-Catholics by The Anchoress. Some of the ritual aspects of a Catholic Advent don't do much for me, but you don't have to be Catholic to appreciate and adopt some of the ideas behind Advent:

"A star is shining brightly.
A people are moving toward the places from whence they came.
A young woman is great with child.
Wise men are lifting their eyes to heaven, and wondering.

The place of our own origin, from whence we came, beckons
and sends a flare, and One who is All in All will come - in love,
and breathtaking humility - to show us the way back to the Creator.
We are great with expectation.
We raise our heads from the wilderness of our lives, and look about,
and wonder. And hope."

In a later post, she says, "If everyone would just sit down and watch this video of Cecilia Bartoli’s super-human vocal virtuosity…we would all be humbled and awestruck at what God has created in human beings…and there would be no war, because we would all understand that we have within us something divine - a spark. In Bartoli’s case, perhaps a Roman Candle!"

That's sort of how I think about Bach's mind when I hear this performance of Sleepers Awake, written, like most of Bach's music, "to the glory of God".

Wachet auf! ruft uns die Stimme
der Wachter sehr hoch auf der Zinne.
Wach auf, du Stadt Jerusalem.

Wake, awake, for night is flying,
The watchmen on the heights are crying.
Awake, Jerusalem, arise.