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25 Days of Watchfulness

About halfway through this past month I noticed that various friends scattered all over the USA were posting daily thanksgivings on twitter and facebook... It only took me a few days and a bit of internet surfing to discover that they were probably all participating in a movement asking for 30 Days of Thanksgiving during November instead of (or as well as) the usual festival of gratitude and gluttony celebrated last Thursday. I thought that it good idea, but that it was a bit late to join in... Maybe next year. But then, with Advent formally kicking in this coming Sunday, I reflected on how the run-up to Christmas has been completely transmogrified into a celebration of conspicuous consumption, and thought back a few years to my participation with others in Glenn Jordan's initiative, "Mockingbird's Leap" - an internet based advent exercise in being "attentive pilgrims", looking for signs of God's grace in the midst of the madness, based on Annie Dillard's experience of watching a Mockingbird take flight and saying:
"beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. the least we can do is try to be there."
So beginning tomorrow, I will be posting the first of what I hope will be 25 brief blogs on the theme of 25 Days of Watchfulness... Some will be reflections on what I've seen, some will be liturgical prompts, some may be wee bits of fun, but all will be celebrations of the fact that in this darkest of months, the world is lit, not by neon signs or candlelight, but by a light that the darkness cannot comprehend or conquer. By their nature they will be end of the day posts, so you may not pick them up until the next morning, but if you do I hope they will add to the joy of each new day in your advent journey.
Feel free to join in, either via comments here on the site or via retweets, comments and shares on facebook or whatever... Or if anyone wants to send me something worth posting (and give me a day off) that would be very acceptable...

In the meantime, here are a few sites offering advent reflections:
The first is from Alan Roxburgh over at the Missional Network, who begins with some reflections shaped in part by his recent visit to the local "Skainos Project" (that Glenn Jordan is the director of);
The second is one produced by the Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed churches, looking at the issue of homelessness, entitled "No Place Like Home";
And finally something for the children, based around the "Friends and Heroes" animated series... A children's advent calendar that has something to do with the incarnation of Jesus and without chocolate... Now there's a novelty...

Shalom

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