Sally writes: “Imagine a complex, multi-cultural society that annually holds an elaborate winter festival, one that lasts not simply a few days, but several weeks. This great festival celebrates the birth of the Lord and Saviour of the world, the prince of peace, a man who is divine. People mark the festival with great abundance- feasting, drinking and gift giving…..” (Richard Horsley- The Liberation of Christmas)

The passage goes on, recounting the decorations that are hung, and the songs and dances that accompany the festival, how the economy booms and philanthropic acts abound….

But this is not Christmas- this is a Roman festival in celebration of the Emperor….This is the world that Jesus was born into! The world where the early Christians would ask “Who is your Saviour the Emperor or Christ?”

And yet our shops and stores and often our lives are caught up in a world that looks very much like the one of ancient Rome, where we worship at the shrine of consumerism….

Advent on the other hand calls us into the darkness, a time of quiet preparation, a time of waiting, and re-discovering the wonder of the knowledge that God is with us. Advent’s call is to simplicity and not abundance, a time when we wait for glorious light of God to come again…

Christ is with us at this time of advent, in the darkness, and Christ is coming with his light- not the light of the shopping centre, but the light of love and truth and beauty.

What do you long for this advent? What are your hopes and dreams for the future? What is your prayer today?
In the vein of simplicity I ask you to list five advent longings….

1. That the Church would learn to be the peacemakers that the Prince of Peace commanded us to be.

2. That the love of Christ will overcome the hate done in Christ’s name.

3. That I would be open to how Christ wants me to love others and be a peacemaker where I live.

4. That the poor in the US would be taken care of instead of abandoned to bail out the rich.

5. That I would continue to become more Christlike and trust that God will enable me to do what she has called me to do.

The Obama rally in Grant Park is two blocks from us, and we have tickets. We will be part of the 65,000 people that will be in the part of the park around the stage. But there is a lot of Grant Park, and the city is expecting 1,000,000 people to be in the Grant Park area. Hopefully, we will be celebrating the election of President Barak Obama (to be honest, I don’t think this country can survive another war-mongering, de-regulating, Republican president. Yeah, the markets did really well regulating themselves).

I am more than ready to say good-bye to this:

Goodbye and good riddance. And may the Republicans lose this election by a landslide, so that the true fiscal and social conservatives will take the party back from the religous right wingnuts and the captialist-run-amok wingnuts. I know from this post and previous political posts, it appears I’m a Democrat, but I’m not: I’m an Independent. And I don’t mind voting for Republicans that are not in one of the wingnut groups (same goes for Democrats and their wingnut parts).

The X-Ray Technician Schools has listed me in their Top 100 Christian Bloggers. They have a lot of good sites listed. Go take a look. Thank you Sarah, for listing me.

Sensuous Wife tagged me for this meme. As I really need to get back to blogging, I decided this would be a good way to start blogging regularly.

Meme Terms and Conditions
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. List six unspectacular things about you.
4. Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.

Things to make you snooze:

1. I am a geek. I have a shirt that says, “Geek.”
2. I love a good theology book.
3. I have a cat.
4. I have decided that my favorite of the seven deadly sins, sloth, must be dealt with. I have also decided that lust is just fine now that I’m married and can do something about it.
5. I crochet.
6. I like to take naps.

Are you snoozing yet?

OK, who should I tag?
Lainie Petersen at Headspace
Sally at Eternal Echoes
Sarah at The Bitten Apple
Mike at Chicago Carless
Eric at The Merge
Leah at Desert Spirit’s Fire

My sinuses attacked me for about a week and a half, and now I’m playing catch-up. Regular posting will resume later this week. I’m sorry for the silence. I am hoping a combination of snorting salt water, Mucinex, hot showers, and hot toddies will help me survive the fall.

Please tell me your last two weeks have been better than mine. What have you been doing? What’s making you smile these days?

I was wondering when a statement would come out from people of faith who do the hard work of community organization about Palin’s putdown. This is from FaithWorld:

“Contrary to Palin’s disparaging remarks, organizers have major responsibilities for creating policy changes. Feeding the hungry and housing the homeless are clearly responsibilities of people of faith. We do that by providing food and shelter and more importantly, by organizing to address the causes of injustice and inequity which lead to hunger and homelessness,” said Kim Bobo, Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice, a congregation-based community organization in Chicago.

Bobo was quoted in a statement issued by several faith-based community organizations that bristled at the remarks by Palin, who has revved up other people of faith–the conservative Christians who comprise the Republican Party’s key base.

A commentator at MudFlats perfectly sums up the difference between community organziers and people like Gov. Palin: “Jesus was a Community Organizer, and Pontius Pilate was a Govenor.” She’s definitely acting more like Pilate than Christ.

Singing Owl says, This is a Friday Five about LABOR. All can play. Put down that hammer, that spoon, that rolling pin, that rake, that pen, that commentary, that lexicon, and let’s have some fun.

1. Tell us about the worst job you ever had.

Working at the call center for The Disney Catalog. I have repressed most of the memories and refuse to dig them out of the dark hole they are in.

2. Tell us about the best job you ever had.

I’ve had two: writing and pastoring. Right now I’m just writing, but there are ample opportunities to serve at my church, and they do have lay pastors and preachers.

3. Tell us what you would do if you could do absolutely anything (employment related) with no financial or other restrictions.

I’m one of the lucky ones who gets to do what I want to do. I’ve always wanted to be a full-time writer, and I have been for the last two years. Woot!

4. Did you get a break from labor this summer? If so, what was it and if not, what are you gonna do about it?

Yes, I took mini-breaks here and there, exploring Chicago and getting together with friends. My mom was also up earlier this month, and we had a lot of fun.

5. What will change regarding your work as summer morphs into fall? Are you anticipating or dreading?

I’m anticipating it. Fall is my favorite time of year, and my creativity soars. I should get lots of writing done. Plus I will be working on my novel, and I know Fall will give me all sorts of wonderful creativity for that.

It’s grey, dark, and rainy on top of being Monday. Polisigh posted a picture over at Street Prophets that perfectly captures how I feel:

Yep that pretty much captures how I feel. Along with: Need More Coffee Now!

How’s your Monday going?