Advent Unwrapped: An Angel Named Hope

Advent Unwrapped-December 1, 2023     View this email in your browser

An Angel Named Hope   There is a crack in everything (that’s how the light gets in). The Christmas tree in my childhood home definitely had a hierarchy. My family is crafty, and for most of my life we handmade all of our ornaments and decorations. My ornaments were always at the top of the tree because they were ‘closer to heaven’ I was told, and ‘farthest from the sightlines.’ Fair enough, my mom and sister spent hours together meticulously arranging each macaroni hair of each macaroni angel with tweezers while chatting and planning Christmas dinner. My ornaments were made as quickly as possible between She-Ra and Jem (my favorite cartoons). We don’t have any of those ornaments left now, most were given away and the rest were lost in moves. For a while, there were a few remnant angels who spent their last cherished days at the top of the tree for protection. Now I treasure whenever I encounter one of these angels at the homes of people that I love, no matter if it is one of the perfect ones or one of the ones ‘closer to heaven,’ I name them. Most of them I name Memory, but a few, especially the ones that look most fragile with chips and cracks, I lovingly name Hope. May you encounter and create glimpses of hope this week.

This Week’s Round-up: New Videos, and more! New Videos! Wow! We hope that you love these new Advent Videos as much as we loved making them. What is Advent the end of? is an invitation to go deeper into the reasons for the seasons and a companion to our video What is Advent?. We are thrilled to premier the first two of a series of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted hymns created in partnership with members of the Deaf Community: The Giver God Lights a Lamp Memory is a new Advent song by Mia McClain. It is the perfect song for use during communion and a fitting invitation for us all to reflect on the role of communal memory as we start to prepare for The United Church of Canada Centennial celebrations. Your (Unofficial) Guide to Advent (below the heading related material third from the bottom) is a fun and handy all-in-one newsletter to share with friends, print out, photocopy, or keep on your desktop this Advent. Zines! Keep inspiration in your pocket with our Advent micro-zines. A zine for families meant to be printed, shared and past around is available in the Related Material section of the webpage. The church in the Holy Land has asked us to pray with them this Advent. Take time to pause each week during Advent to pray and discern how you can act towards a just peace (under Worship Ideas).  Shout Outs!   Another Starry Black Night: A Womanist Advent Devotional, is a series of devotions for the season of Advent written by Womanist theologians that will help you stay awake and get ready this Advent! Shout out to the Rev. Dr. Lisa Waites who sent me A Liturgy for All Bodies: New Words for a New World by the Embodied Liturgy Collective. I know that you should not recommend a book before you’ve read it, but I can say with certainty that I am grateful for the scholarship and perspectives that this book highlights, and am so looking forward to reading it! To Consider   A question came in last week around what to do with the line “born is the King of Israel” in the First Noel. The New Century Hymnal changed this line to “born in a manger, Emmanuel.” I think this is a helpful alteration that avoids the harmful assumption that Jesus, and therefore Christianity, supersedes Judaism. This Sunday, December 3, is the International Day of Persons’ with Disabilities. A perfect time to recommit to supporting and advocating for the dignity, rights and well-being of all people. Check out these Sunday resources from the Inclusive Church. Advent Blog of The Week   Why is Christmas only 24 days away? Good question. In case you missd it, here is an explanation from Rev. Stephen Milton in our latest Advent Unwrapped blog, Why is Christmas on December 25? To Try: “Could be” Melt-a-ways   Here is my “could be” melt-a-way recipe. They could be gluten free, they could be vegan, they could be vegan and gluten free! They are always delicious! Try it with our Recipe Prayers: Baking Edition (below the related material section) and share your pictures on social using #UCCADVENT. Ingredients: ½ cup cornstarch ½ cup sifted icing sugar 1 cup flour (can use a gluten free mix that doesn’t have beans) ¾ cup vegetable shortening (don’t use coconut oil – it will be too greasy if not vegan use butter) 1 tsp vanilla ¼ tsp salt Instructions: Pre-heat oven to 300 ֯ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift together the dry ingredients and then add the shortening and flavouring with a pastry fork, wooden spoon (if you have the time) or pulsing on a food processor (if you are willing to clean it out). Once in a rough ball, use a tablespoon ice-cream scope to mold small round shaped cookies and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Make it fancy! This is the base, depending on who the cookies are for I like to add special flavours. My favourite flavour profiles are: Orange/ Ginger, Bergamot/Lemon, Floral (rose water and orange blossom water), Chocolate Chilli, Rum/Raisin, Cranberry/ White Chocolate, Cranberry/Citrus, Candy Cane Latte. My favourite way to decorate them is with melted chocolate and pretty sprinkles. Waiting with you in hope, Alydia P.S Remember sharing means caring! If this email has been forwarded to you by a loving friend, family member or neighbour please sign-up for our weekly Advent newsletter. You may also want to follow us on on our Facebook page, where you can share links to resources, ideas and inspirations that have worked for you. Facebook Twitter Website Email Instagram YouTube LinkedIn   Your generosity enables the United Church to love, serve, and minister in the world. Make an online donation or learn more about your options to support the work of the church.