The furnace broke last night, coldest night of the year. We were up after midnight for hours seeing if we could jump-start it, and ended up just giving everybody extra blankets. The house is very cold today. My fingers are numb typing. I stop every few sentences, grab the coffee mug with both hands, andContinue reading “Advent Travels: When in Doubt”
Author Archives: Sean
Advent Travels: Admitting the Wound
Yesterday it snowed a little as the sun set: prismatic flurries tracing faded planes of light down western hills slowly darkening. I stood shivering on the front porch, breathless and grateful, now and then remembering to take a sip of coffee. I cannot bear the loveliness sometimes; I cannot compass the love the loveliness reflects.Continue reading “Advent Travels: Admitting the Wound”
Advent Travels: Waiting for Her
0 Today is winter solstice. In my little town we’ll have daylight just over nine hours. This summer it was closer to fifteen. Now, going forward, instead of darkening, the world becomes a little lighter and warmer. Things will grow differently; they will create differently. More of my ancestors celebrated solstice than Christmas. But whenContinue reading “Advent Travels: Waiting for Her”
Advent Travels: Behind the Barn
Reading Humberto Maturana taught me that love was not a feeling but a state of being, a way of giving attention to life that was creative and nurturing, that was, in and of itself, life-giving. Through Maturana I discovered that love was inherent and fear alien, and that it was possible to be happy inContinue reading “Advent Travels: Behind the Barn”
Advent Travels: Church Goes with You
What is clear at 4 a.m. is less so as the day goes on. It rained last night; I sat in the darkness and listened. Christmas is coming, plans are being made. I’m tired and I want to rest. In Advent, in prayer, a lot opens up and a lot slips away. I remember ElangoContinue reading “Advent Travels: Church Goes with You”
Advent Travels: Under the Bookish Pedagogy
Often, at night when I am most with Jesus and the Holy Spirit in prayer, I draw the curtains. Privacy, seclusion, minimal distractions. I am not of this world but another. But last night I let the curtains be. The moon was right outside the window, spectral and thin, and I was in the moodContinue reading “Advent Travels: Under the Bookish Pedagogy”