Hmmm…don’t know where this archive got away from me!

On Saturday night…the night before the second Sunday of Advent, I went out to the tree lot that is always set up at this time of year, next to the Soby’s store.  It was a blustery night.  I like going to the same place every year.  The guy has a trailer…and a heater…and he always chats with me about the trees and he cuts slivers of discarded tree ends for me to take home and put in a basket on the table.  The smell of those wee bits of wood is heavenly.

So, I hauled the tree home and set it up on my own…and invited the children to come home for Sunday dinner…ribs and baked potatoes and corn…and for the tree decorating.  We even managed to get the cranberries on the tree this year.  It was a blessing-night with my girls, but sadly my son wasn’t home this year and so it just wasn’t the same.

It is a marvelous thing to see the dazzle of a lit Christmas tree in the evening.  As I look at the variety of coloured outdoor lights that have recently appeared, I think that it all makes perfect sense that we make the effort to bring light into the darkness during this season.

SECOND READING
Philippians 1:4–6, 8–11

Brothers and sisters:
I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer:
that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.