Christmas on the equator

Pictured above: Mark and I got a night away (and two days) at a lovely place on the Nile... It is built in and among a rocky island and we were the only guests that night.  A perfect time to breath deep, sleep long, not be interrupted, and soak in the beautiful Nile.

Pictured below: We joined our good friends the Atherstones for a two night visit to their place.  One day we went for a hike in a rain-forest and enjoyed the foresty aspect of Uganda's tropical geography.  About 30 minutes in, our smaller companions were about done with that adventure.

Love calls us to the things of this world...

Late afternoon light--my favorite... the tree from my mom, maybe from her sister? The nativity is made of olive wood and brought to me after my parents went to Israel a couple years ago. 

Nothing like homemade nature muffins and self-dressed girls!

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

The creative process knows no time limits and brings unconditional joy

Abby, Advent and the paradoxes

Blogger's update: I've had a little "hiccup" that I'm working on that requires way too much computer knowledge for me! When I try to upload photos, it tells me that my storage is full and I have to buy more.  Yikes.  Not quite ready to commit to that.  But I think I can learn other ways of posting photos (i.e. I put this on my desk top and than pasted it on) 

A throw back to days of yore! Daniel at two decorating for Christmas

So, in general, I would say that I very much connect with the Advent and Christmas season.  And I hope over the course of this season to include some posts about why that is true.  

I don't think that until last year I had quite put together the liturgical "seasons"-- that Advent begins the Four Sundays before Christmas and that Christmas begins with Christmas day and 8-40 days longer depending on your background.  In my search to be accurate, I found the following description regarding the "season of Christmas":

When and how long is Christmas?

• Christmas Day, liturgically called "The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord" in the Catholic Church, technically includes both Christmas Eve (Dec. 24, after sunset) and Christmas Day (Dec. 25) itself. For religiously observant Christians, however, Christmas is not just one day, but an entire season, lasting anywhere from 12 days to 40 days in different ecclesial traditions.
• In the modern secular world, Dec. 26 already begins the "after-Christmas" sales, and Christmas decorations are often removed before New Year's Day! The "Christmas Season" (for shopping, decorating, parties, music, etc.) used to begin just after Thanksgiving Day (in the United States), but now seems to begin just after Halloween (Oct. 31), if not before! When people hear about the "Twelve Days of Christmas" (or sing the song by that title), they might think it refers to the last 12 shopping days before Christmas.
• In most Christian traditions, however, the "Christmas Season" properly begins with Christmas Eve (after sunset on Dec. 24), while the "Twelve Days of Christmas" refers to the period from Dec. 25 to Jan. 5.
• In different Churches, the Christmas Season might end on Jan. 6 (the traditional date of the Feast of the Epiphany), or might last until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (usually the Sunday after Epiphany), or might even last all the way to Feb. 2 (the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 40 days after Dec. 25).

So, more to come, but I think the Advent season resonates with me because it is a season where at the same time you repent and rejoice, mourn our human condition and take hope in our human condition, grieve about our broken world and find meaning in our broken world.  Whereas Lent and Easter are somehow a bit more linear (first we repent, then we rejoice); it seems to me that Advent allows us to be walking paradoxes of our despair and hope, pain and beauty, loneliness and companionship, suffering and joy, human and spiritual, etc.