Thoughts For Beginning the Season of Christmas

 It is Advent, the beginning of the Christmas season – in a year unlike any other.  

I can’t go to mass.  I can’t seem to get into the “virtual” mass.  It’s too cold to sit down by the bay to pray and write in my journal.  

Every morning I come up here to the computer – and do nothing important. Check email.  Check the weather.  Play a few games of solitaire rationalizing that it wakes up my brain.  But nothing important.

 

Feeling so frustrated this morning.  Christmas is less than 4 weeks away.  Today is the second Sunday of Advent – I missed the first Sunday.  It will not be a normal Christmas.  Cannot go to be with family, or even have family here.  

 

So this morning I picked up the “Little Blue Book” of advent that I had saved from our church back in 2006.  The Blue Book contains readings and reflections to stimulate thoughts and prayers, and suggests you “spend six minutes a day with the Lord”.  

 

I can do that.  … and I can Write!  And maybe there will be some value in sharing the thoughts from these “six minutes” on my blog.  So this is my first entry: 

 

Today I spent my six minutes watching a video of our 8-year-old granddaughter taking part in the lighting of the Advent Wreath candle at her school.  The Advent Wreath, with 4 candles is one of the traditions in our church.  Each week, one candle is lit.  

The first candle symbolizes Hope!   So I begin this blog series – and this advent season – with prayers and hope -- for myself and my family -- and hope that the world will recover from the darkness of this Covid cloud.  

There is an old saying that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". So I pray and Hope that we will persevere through this time and soon be able to take off our masks and share smiles and hugs again.