The Advent of Advent

Advent is coming! Advent is coming! I love Advent. I love the music and the candles and the quiet and the preparations and the waiting. So of course, I'm playing the RevGals Friday Five today!

1) Do you observe Advent in your church?
Absolutely! We are Episcopalians, after all. This year we are having an Advent pageant, that explains the different names for Jesus in the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and other years we've had craft stations after service to make Jesse Trees, explore December saints, and of course, make Advent wreaths.

2) How about at home?
Heck yeah! We have an advent wreath, as well as an Advent calendar. Also, I kinda never put the creches away from last year, so they're around too...

3) Do you have a favorite Advent text or hymn?
Lots. From our hymnals, I love Comfort, Comfort, ye my people, Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, and People Look East. I also have a cd called Keepin' The Baby Awake by a (now separated) duo called The Miserable Offenders - its Advent and Christmas music, and I love it.

4) Why is one of the candles in the Advent wreath pink? (You may tell the truth, but I'll like your answer better if it's funny.)
The Advent wreath was orginally intended to be a birthday cake for the Baby Jesus. But when Baby Jesus was three, he really looked up to his cousin John, who has very strange eating habits. So that year, the cake was made of leaves and dirt. The pink candle is the "one to grow on".

5 What's the funniest/kitschiest Advent calendar you've ever seen? I used to love the chocolate ones. My calendars aren't usually all the kitchy. My mom buys them for me and sends them to me - even when we lived in Chicago she bought them for me. Its just a thing.