Category Archives: Advent

Awake: Advent Word 7

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Boz

Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” was first performed  on November 25, 1731, the 27th Sunday after Trinity. Based on the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25: 1-13), this message of stunning cantata is central to … Continue reading →

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Watch: Advent Word 6

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Boz

Words are my lifeblood, so I want to understand them deeply and fully–to know them and to own them. Thus, I frequently consult the Online Etymology Dictionary, a favorite site for enriching my store of words as I explore their … Continue reading →

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Grace: Advent Word 5

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Boz

I delight in volubility and could write thousands of words on the idea of grace, so antithetical to American culture beginning with our Puritan forefathers and continuing right through the rugged individuals of the frontier. However, I also delight in … Continue reading →

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Peace: Advent Word 4B

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Boz
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Peace: Advent Word 4

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Boz

Give Peace a Chance? Most Advent meditations have no need of a trigger warning, but here goes: If you’re expecting warm fuzzies, you should make a peace sign and hum a few bars of “Kumbaya.” My thoughts as I pondered … Continue reading →

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Presence: Advent Word 3

Posted on December 5, 2023 by Boz

In an argument that has informed my efforts to understand God ever since I first read it, Walter T. Stace wrote, “Either God is a mystery, or he is nothing at all.” However, it seems that some of the attributes … Continue reading →

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Hidden: Advent Word 2

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Boz

Metaphor was my guide as I pondered today’s assigned word. First, my thoughts strayed to one of the Bible verses I memorized as a girl in Sunday school. It was the very early 1960s in a very Protestant church, so … Continue reading →

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Wind: Advent Word 1

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Boz

Christina Rossetti, the fervent proponent of High Anglicanism who gave us #112 in the Episcopal hymnal, the haunting carol “In the Bleak Midwinter,” also wrote the brief poem below, often anthologized for children: Who has seen the wind? Neither I … Continue reading →

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Walk Together—and Teach: Advent Words 1, 2, and 3

Posted on November 27, 2022 by Boz

Brief reflections on my own 26 Advents I first experienced the Anglican liturgy and its repository, the Book of Common Prayer—where I found a home for my rootless soul—on the first Sunday of Advent 1996. Can there be a more … Continue reading →

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Teach Me How to Live: Two Advent Lessons

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Boz

Note: I began this meditation on November 28, the first Sunday of Advent. Some of the frenzy described herein actually prevented me from finishing it until a full week and another day of relative rest later. Given that context, it … Continue reading →

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