
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Meditations During Advent: Precious Memories
One of my favorite activities of this season is decorating my Christmas tree. It begins with a trip with my grandson to Boyd Mountain tree farm to pick out the perfect Frasier Fir. Jason has been going with me to get the tree for many years. After the tree home and securely in its stand and in the house, I get down the container with each ornament lovingly wrapped in tissue paper. As I unwrap each ornament, memories flood into my heart. I have ornaments on my tree that were my mother’s and I remember how these beautiful glass ornaments looked on our tree when I was a child. I have ornaments made by a dear friend of the family. There are ornaments made by my children in preschool. The animals which hung from their crib mobile now grace my tree. Many of the ornaments were gifts from dear friends and family members. I even have a heart made from one of Jack’s shirts. My tree doesn’t have a theme or a particular color palate, but it holds so much love and so many precious memories. The angel on the top has been on my tree year after year for more years than I can count. When it is time to take the tree down, I wrap each ornament in tissue paper and place it carefully away for another year.
I recognize that I am very fortunate that my memories of Christmas are so filled with love and joy. Not everyone is so lucky; for some people Christmas is a time of uncertainty and anxiety. For some it is a time of grief and loneliness. But Advent, this time of quiet, of short days and long nights reminds us that the light of God’s love can penetrate even the darkest of nights. We can hope – we can incline our hearts toward the light in confidence that the light has come.
Though my parents died more than 35 years ago and Jack, my sweet husband four years ago, the precious memories of their lives bring me joy even as I grieve. I sit quietly with only the white lights of the tree illuminating the room and cherish each memory as I place ornaments on the tree. I wonder if the people who loved and followed Jesus sat around the flickering fires and remembered their walk with the divine after the resurrection? I can just hear them saying, “You remember when Jesus walked on water? Peter tried to follow and sank like the rock he is,” accompanied by much laughter. Remembering keeps alive those loved ones who have passed into another realm.
As we continue our Advent journey, relish this time in the memories. Anticipate the brightness of the star that leads the way to Jesus as the darkness enfolds you. Anticipate the angel’s songs as you live in silence. Look forward to the extravagant gift of God’s love which is coming and is already here. Take your time; don’t hurry. Like Mary, take time to ponder all these things in your heart.
Here is an Advent Blessing from Jan Richardson in her book, Circle of Grace.
A Blessing for Traveling in the Dark
Go slow
if you can.
Slower.
More slowly still.
Friendly dark
or fearsome,
this is no place
to break your neck
by rushing,
by running,
by crashing into
what you cannot see.
Then again,
it is true:
different darks
have different tasks,
and if you
have arrived here unawares,
if you have come
in peril
or in pain,
this might be no place
you should dawdle.
I do not know
what these shadows
ask of you,
what they might hold
that means you good
or ill.
It is not for me
to reckon
whether you should linger
or you should leave.
But this is what
I can ask for you:
That in the darkness
there be a blessing.
That in the shadows
there be a welcome.
That in the night
you be encompassed
by the Love that knows
your name.
- The Rev. Dn. Kristie Neal
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