getting ready for a new year

The last great feast day of the year, The Reign of Christ, has come and gone and I have celebrated it well. Well, not as well (or rather, as grandly) as I would have liked, but I cooked a feast and shared my table and am happy to be getting ready for the austere preparation of Advent. Christ, the clown king, the mockery of power, sits on his throne rough-hewn from the woods in all his victorious attire: imperial red, royal blue and lush purple adorn his near-naked body. And as he reigns, we re-begin to wait for him to do so, equally fools, foolish and forgiven, to those who watched his ascent.

It's a new year coming up. First of advent next week. Lectionary year A, no less. A great time for beginning. Always beginning. Many things to begin:

1. Writing here: The impulse to write has resurged and will become a useful tool for me to warm up for my work day
2. The Daily Office: So difficult to maintain a practice on my own, but I may have found some folk for the exploration of it's use in the broad monastery of suburban life...so I'll have to check on that
3. Lay Ministry: I am learning not to wait for direction or permission from my parish to work in ministry while still remaining a faithful servant to my community there.