And so, the cozy season approaches and Mama is moving in new directions.  With Thanksgiving comes the onset of our family’s Advent traditions.  For Christians, Advent was 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for the baptism of new Christians at the January feast of Epiphany (a celebration of the arrival of the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus).  It is estimated that this changed somewhere around the 6th century and shifted more to the waiting of the coming of Christ (at his birth).

For my family, as Quakers (who overlap significantly with Christians), we use this season carefully to turn inward.  Not in a selfish way.  Actually, in a way that removes a lot of the selfishness and greed and bustle of the season.  A way that preserves the peace and love and reflection and reverence of the season…  Continue reading Drawing inward… →