a celtic advent calendar and pilgrimage

 A Celtic Advent: Wandering, Wonder, and Witnessing the Presence of Christ

I am collecting, editing, writing, and renewing a 40 day Celtic Advent calendar informed by the research of David Cole, Christine Valters-Paintner, assorted works from the communities of Iona, Corrymeela and Northumbria, as well as John O’Donohue and The Carmina Gadelica. Those who have been a part of the on-going “Small is Holy” Sunday morning live-streaming on Face Book know that I have been at work on this project for a few weeks – or a whole lifetime. Between Sunday, November 15 and Thursday, December 24 we will share weekly and daily practices to help us open our hearts to the Christ Child in deeper ways. Letting go, emptying, relinquishing, wandering, silence, and trusting God’s grace will guide our individual and shared commitments. 

+  We will prepare together for a Holy Advent on Sunday, November 15th as we consider the prophetic invitation to “prepare a way for the Lord.” We will ponder how the wandering of Abraham and Sarah might serve as guides in this season and what our own spiritual lineage might be telling us, too. 

+  For the next 30 days we’ll take time to reconsider the Incarnation and the coming of the Christ Child, the ways we have personally encountered the love of Christ, and finally what we might learn from the Cosmic Christ. 

+  Our shared Advent will close with the O Antiphons and ways to live into silence, compassion, and peace-making in our ordinary lives that are currently being shaped by contagion, political turmoil, and the struggle to uproot systemic American racism.

If you would like to be a part of this journey – and receive part one of our Advent Calendar (with updates being shared periodically) - please drop me a note on either email: northernjames66@gmail.com or on Face Book (Be Still and Know @ https://www.facebook.com/Be-Still-and-Know-913217865701531/) Please make certain to include an email where I can send the calendar and updates. I look forward to wandering, listening, and learning with you during this season. The Irish sage, John O’Donohue, put it like this:

May all that is unforgiven in you be released.

May you fears yield their deepest tranquilities.

And may all that is unlived in you blossom into a future graced with love.