Tis the Season of Advent

Advent started yesterday and we celebrated the first Sunday - Hope.  At church we talked about hope as a verb and as a noun.  Rather than just hoping and wishing for gifts, using hope as a verb, we are encouraged to simply have "hope" as the noun.  It is a rather vague concept; you put hope out in the universe and what is supposed to come back?  For me, the general sense of there being something more is what comes back to me.  I don't think of this as not being happy with what I have, because I am generally happy with what I have, but it goes beyond what I have, and what I hope for the world.

Reflect on this word of "hope" this week. Even if you are not religious and don't really celebrate Advent, hope can sustain you through some hard times even when you don't think you have much else.  Hope is what keeps us from giving up on other people, the world, and ourselves.  It encourages us to give to others.  We are giving those people that gift of hope, but we are also getting it back from them.

I have put together E's advent calendar again this year with both candy and daily bible readings as we prepare for Christmas Day.  I am hoping (eh!?) that he will gradually appreciate the season of Advent and the Christmas story.  This year he will understand a bit more than last year, and I am always looking for opportunities to teach him.

Hope is a star.