Well, I’ve finally hit my initial goal of 31 days of blogging! (And I will stop numbering my posts now.) I didn’t complete all 31 posts in 1 month, but I did manage to do it in 2. Given that I’ve never done this sort of writing before, I feel that’s not half bad. “Started a blog” could be checked off my bucket list, if I had one. “Make a bucket list” should be the next thing I do!
I’ve found that so far, blogging has definitely been a worthwhile journey. Thank you – each one of you – for reading. I know your time is valuable and I’m honored that you spare a bit of it to read my two cents.
Thank you, also, to everyone who has encouraged me with your compliments, ‘likes,’ and ‘shares.’ There’s simply no way I can fully convey just how much your appreciation means to me. I am very blessed to enjoy the writing process, but gifted so much more by friends cheering me on. Thank you. Thank you.
So – today’s post is about a new beginning. Why? Well, because it’s the first day of Advent.
My family and I had a great Thanksgiving. We are also looking forward to Christmas. We were talking about getting our tree today, but for some reason, and I couldn’t put my finger on why, planning to do this seemed a little rushed to me. And then, as we settled into the pew at Mass this morning, I realized I was feeling sluggish. It was not the tryptophan from turkey leftovers. No, I just felt caught in a sort of no-man’s land….I was mentally done with the Thanksgiving holiday but not yet ready to start preparing for Christmas.
Then I grabbed the Missal. In the Catholic Church, this book contains all of the scripture readings selected for the church worldwide for the entire year. Churches replace their Missals annually, and the church year begins with Advent. So basically, I thought, maybe today I start again.
I pondered this more as I heard the first reading, from the Book of Isaiah 63 and 64, and especially the last lines, “Yet, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.”
I am a work in His hands. And He is patient with me. Since Advent is about waiting for His coming at Christmas, the Lord is not caught up in the hustle and bustle of the so-called “holiday season” that has become so commercialized in our predominantly secular society. No, He has no part in that. So, I participated in Communion with Him and gave Him myself as I was, and He came and made today about accepting the process of preparation for things to come. He made it about taking the necessary time to do that. Nice and easy. Peacefully and slowly. Not on the world’s time.
Instead of rushing to pull out the decorative embellishments that say to the world “we’re celebrating,” I removed clutter and cleaned to make room for what’s to come. I’ll do more tomorrow, but I feel better already.
