22 Comments

For me Advent is Mystery. A word that became a part of my vocabulary in 1984 when I joined Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara.

Mystery is so helpful!

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"Moving through time is where unexpected edges touch, mystery overlaps mystery, the journey of ages and eons and epochs dancing together like stars and planets. Maybe that’s the only way we glimpse the Bright Star, the rising dawn of the dream Isaiah saw." Perfect. Thank you.

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Such a beautiful supplement to today's Mass, thank you.

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Diana, thanks for suggesting what I take from realized eschatology ideas, but for me not developing enough for me how “Christ will come again”...means “again & again & again”...each time we express the truth of the Kingdom come already, as Jesus taught, by participating in acts of healing, justice, compassion, & love. Advent is the most pregnant opportunity (in the spirit of Incarnation & Original Blessing) for the Christian community to “prepare in our hearts a home where such a mighty guest may come” (as Charles Coffin 1763 expressed in the hymn “On Jordan’s bank”. IMHO, Fred Kaan’s hymn “Tomorrow Christ is coming” captures the spirit of Advent most significantly! I want to post the photo taken of the hymn page, yet don’t see how!

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Wandering in the fields of time. You have magnified Advent ( and the Christian journey) for me. Thank you.

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A Wrinkle in Time as a viewpoint to the time in the finite (1 CE) and the infinite ♾️ is exactly what I needed to begin my observance of Advent. I am profoundly grateful.

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Was enjoying the musings, then a practical matter of time intervened. Wow. Quantum theory at work. This thread is two places at once. Thanks for the thoughtful comments. Now to see how our priest handles them.

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This is helpful as I am in an Advent of my own of sorts, waiting for something new to be born out of the mists of my past institutional Christianity.

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A few years ago when I did Education for Ministry (EFM), we read Abraham Heshel's book The Sabbath. His argument for observing the Sabbath as observant Jews do relates to our concept of time, along the lines of what you are talking about. Excerpt:

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Indeed, we know what to do with space but do not know what to do about time, except to make it subservient to space. Most of us seem to labor for the sake of things of space. As a result we suffer from a deeply rooted dread of time and stand aghast when compelled to look into its face." Time to us is sarcasm, a slick treacherous monster with a jaw like a furnace incinerating every moment of our lives. Shrinking, therefore, from facing time, we escape for shelter to things of space. The intentions we are unable to carry out we deposit in space; possessions become the symbols of our repressions, jubilees of frustrations. But things of space are not fireproof; they only add fuel to the lames. Is the joy of possession an antidote to the terror of time which grows to be a dread of inevitable death? Things, when magnified, are forgeries of hapharassed than supported by the Frankensteins of spatial things.

(my phone text scanner messes up sometimes...)

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Nov 27, 2022Liked by Diana Butler Bass

So the advent wreath is the wheel of time? Love it!

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Nov 27, 2022Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Diana, when you asked us to name a book, A Wrinkle in Time came to mind though I didn’t ultimately choose it. Premonition? Loved your writing about it in conjunction with the Scriptures!❤️ 💜

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I don't see a way to renew and get the 10% discount. Unless I send myself a gift subscription? How would that work?

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Love it! I’ve often said my theology is 40% Jesus, 30% Lord of the Rings, 30% Wrinkle in Time ☺️ And I have a tattoo that says “You have something that IT has not.” Though given the events of the past several years, I could easily have chosen “Stay angry, little Meg.” Sigh.

(One note that trips up many of us: the family name is Murry, not Murray.)

Happy Hope Day, DBB!

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Nov 27, 2022Liked by Diana Butler Bass

This collection of wonderful writings gives me hope in a mindful way for this Advent season.

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