'Tis the season

For more emails

Welp, I didn’t get the November newsletter wrapped up in time for this month, so you’re going to get some seasonal emails instead.

(And I’m going to pretend I didn’t send it out on purpose because I was super worried if you had an email from me you might MISS all those VERY important Cyber Monday and Black Friday emails. Because they were so easy to miss. EYE ROLL.)

Advent is truly the most wonderful time of the year for me. and that’s not because it’s always been filled with joy. Some Decembers have held more loss than I thought my soul could bear. But here I am, still in love with this season. And I find the deeper into the darkness I have ventured, the more sacred the joy I have found.

I’m learning more and more that love and loss are ultimately the same thing: they’re emotional responses to indicate that something in this universe is precious to you.

What a tragic and miraculous mystery life is. What a sacred delight, bundled up in such a strange form. Like lights hung on a tree. Like a God wrapped in flesh laid in a dirty manger.

I’ve been re-reading The Wrinkle in Time Series, and it’s been very timely. Something about the way she describes magic muddled up with the mundane feels miraculous and Advent-y to me.

Sometimes it does seem like we are on our own down here. Sometimes it does seem like hope is foolish, and goodness is inadequate, and the dark nature of the world seems to be winning.

Let’s remember:

“That’s not all of it.”

“What else is there?” Mrs. Murry’s voice was low and anguished.

“There are still stars which move in an ordered and beautiful rhythm. There are still people in this world who keep promises.”

Promises kept. That’s all Advent really is about.