MORE THAN PRESENTS.....

"Light a candle, for the old man who sits staring out the frosty windowpane...for the children who need more than presents can bring...." -"Light a Candle" by Avalon

"For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is NOT the end of our journey, but only the beginning....

...Not home, but the place we must pass, if we EVER are to reach home at last...." -Frederich Buechner

"...and He will be called wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace..." -Isaiah 9:6

"In the silence of the midwinter dusk, there is a sound so faint, that for all YOU can tell it may only be the sound of silence itself.....

...You hold your breath to listen. You are aware of the beating of your heart...

...The extraordinary that is about to happen, is matched only by the extraordinary moment, just before it happens...

...Advent is the name of that moment." -Frederick Buechner

"Advent....the time to listen for footsteps. You can't hear footsteps when you're running yourself..." -Bill McKibben

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you, as the world gives. Do not be troubled, do not be afraid.." -John 14:27

                Pa-rum-pa-pum-pummmmm...

      "...pause in silence, to understand a presence..."

                                                                            -Pope Benedict XVI

"I am determined to enjoy each day to the fullest. I don't want to wish away Christmas..." -Shelley Shepard Gray

                "Advent is a journey...."-Richard Rohr

"Peace flows into me as the tide to the pool by the shore; When sunset burns and dies, You are my deepening skies, give me your stars to hold..." -Sara Teasdale

"The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...." -John1:5

 Photographs 2025 (Advent of Peace)

HOLDING HOPE...

"In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, HOPE to despair..." -Howard Thurman (1899-1981) 

"There is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before....

                                                             

So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold..."-Jan L. Richardson ( artist)

"When you have ears to hear and eyes to see... 

                                              

...you will recognize Him at any moment in your life..." -Henri Nouen

"While we wait for God....

                                                      

...we are with God all along, that while we need to be reassured of God's arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming...

...we are already at home..." -Michelle Blake

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light...

...on those living in a land of deep darkness a light has dawned..."

                                                                                                                                       - Isaiah 9:2-6

"Advent is the art of holding HOPE gently, until it becomes light..."

                    - unknown

"When the song of the angels is stilled...

...when the star in the sky is gone, the work of Christmas begins...." 

-Howard Thurman (author, theologian, civil rights leader)

Photographs 2025. First Advent of Hope.

OUT of the DARKNESS...

"Miracles will grow ......the heart that makes time and space for Him to come will be a glorious place.....we will wait, knowing that the remaking of everything has already begun...." -Ann Voskamp 

AWAKEN....

"Mankind is a great, immense family. This is proved by what we feel in our hearts at Christmas..." -Pope John XXIII

"Don't let the past steal the present. This is the message of Christmas. We are never alone.." -Taylor Caldwell  , author (1900-1985)

"Out of the Darkness, into the Light...." -Sir Kristin Goldmund Aumann

"We clap our hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas. we beckon this good season to wait a while with us..." - Maya Angelou

"I hope you'll be able to look for all the different ways that people have of showing that they love you.." Mr. Rogers

"Christmas is the great encounter, between God and  us....." - Pope Paul VI

                                 Love.....

"Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles..." - Edwin Lewis Cole

                                                    Celebrate......

"Come they told me Pa rumpa pum pummmmm.."- Little Drummer boy

"Christmas in Bethlehem. The ancient dream. A glorious star....incarnation of perfect love..." -Lucinda Franks

                                     GRACE.....

                                     "For God so loved the world...." -John 3:16

"In the silence of the midwinter dusk, there is a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of silence itself......" Frederick Buechner

                             "At Christmas, all roads lead home..." -Marjorie Holmes

Photographs 2024