Lent day 12: manure

Freeze!  Sunday, December 1, the first Sunday in Advent

Gather Together: Your Advent wreath. If you didn't make one this morning, take a look at options online. You can make yours in lots of different ways, the only "musts" are four candles -- purples or blues. One can be pink.

The Advent wreath is a popular Advent custom that originated in Germany. It consists of four candles (three purple and one rose), surrounded by evergreen branches. One purple candle is lit the first week, two the second, two purple and one rose the third, and finally all four in the last week of Advent. The light of the candles signifies the light of Christ.

The Advent wreath originated in the 16th century. It was quickly adopted throughout Germany, and it was brought to the United States by German immigrants in the 19th century.  (From About.com)

Do Together: We begin our Advent “freeze” by first blessing  the light. Gather around the wreath in darkness. Spend a minute or two in the darkness in quiet. Then, share together how being in the dark makes you feel. Think about how things are hard to see. Next, light the first purple candle -- the candle of Hope. Have each person name a hope for this Advent season. Share this blessing from Jan Richardson:

I cannot tell you how the light comes,
but that it does. That it will.
That it works its way into the deepest dark
that enfolds you, though it may seem
long ages in coming or arrive in a shape
you did not foresee.

May we this day turn ourselves toward it.

May we lift our faces to let it find us.
May we bend our bodies to follow the arc it makes.
May we open
and open more
and open still

to the blessed light
that comes.