Day 6: Celtic Advent

November 20

Say Hi to a person standing on the fringes.

Oops… I mixed up days and thought this was yesterday’s Advent post. I guess it turns out I still have a chance to add a picture. But I’m just going to write a quick thought instead.

We spent most of yesterday at home. So I decided that perhaps I could speak to someone while picking Lucy up from school. I decided to say hi to everyone I encountered to eliminate the need for me to fudge whether they were marginalized.

I saw a woman driving a bus watching me carry Oliver like an airplane into the school. Easy, I thought. But as I got closer to the bus, her eyes were fixed straight ahead. Then later after pick up, a similar thing happened when I approached the man in the car next to me.

I never expected that this exercise was a reminder of being ignored or ignoring another person. I think It is pretty common place in our culture with easy access to one another – texts, calls, emails – and that spills over into our simple passing on the street.

I think there is a lot of pain surrounding this issue on all sides. I’m going to try to do more to stop ignoring people and be more forgiving of those who practice it.

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This Advent Season, I am going to attempt to practice Ideas for Living Joyfully: Forty Days of Celtic Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas 2014 by Susan Forshey. I intend to create all forty posts in advance and then add in pictures from Instagram or thoughts each day as I go along. But if I don’t post anything, it is because life got in the way. Which is fine and expected. You can still read Susan’s suggestions for the day. I don’t want this to become another To Do. I especially love Susan’s directions.

Practice Grace. No need to do them all or every day. Let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart!

I love how gracious Susan is in her description of this project:

For each day, from November 15 until Epiphany, I’ve thought of one thing I can do to practice joy and gratitude, and to give love, putting it on a calendar that draws on ancient Advent and Christmas traditions.

… (more about the three traditions she is drawing from here) …

The ability to give and experience love and joy doesn’t just happen, it needs to be stretched and strengthened. And over time, the capacity to love and to joy increases.

Let the Holy Spirit lead!

Please join along!