another preview of my advent ebook
/As you all know, last week I released my eBook, This Fearsome Thing of Grace, a collection of Advent reflections from the first Sunday to Christmas Eve. I am home, painting, baking, and buried in my thesis. But there is the livelihood to be considered, shamed as I am to say it aloud. So, as is the case when it comes to these things, I'm pitching it hard and fast right at you. The blurb on the description:
Daily reflections for Advent 2011, based on the lectionary readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. From the first Sunday of Advent to Christmas Eve, these are pooled words, short insights, and thoughts to hold close as we journey together toward the coming of our Saviour. Part memoir, part reflection, daily offerings of simple grace. Features hyperlinks to each of the day's readings for easy access.
Four ways to buy:
For iPad or iPhone to be in iBooks.
For any other eReader, including iPad and iPhone. (Download from Lulu, then drag the file into iTunes to load it into iBooks, or open the file in whatever eReader you have! If you need one, Adobe Digital Editions is a free reader that works on everything but Mac OSX Lion.)
For computer and to print, as a PDF. (Download from Lulu and you're ready to go!)
And another preview:
-December 19- Monday in the Fourth Week of Advent Vocation — “... He looked with favor upon me...” Luke 1:25 — In the morning: Psalms 61, 62 Zephaniah 3:14-20 Titus 1 Luke 1:1-25 In the evening: Psalms 112, 115 —
The coming of Christ in the incarnation, the hallowing of all this human form, has at times led to an odd interpretation of God’s will, a belief that to be like Christ is to do as Christ did exactly. If this were so, if the will of God was a sort of choice by choice kind of construction in which perfection only existed in following every single choice to the pattern of the perfect, then we should all become carpenters like Jesus was surely trained to be by His earthly father Joseph.
But if the hallowing of the human in the incarnation is the sudden, beautiful ability to live in such a way that is in conversation with and honoring of the Divine, then the way of Christ is rooted in the miracle of vocation. All are called, but not all are called to the same thing. Some of us have been called to write, some to work with numbers, some to teach, some to live in the wild fields of belief where we venture from thing to thing, for the breath of Holy Ghost rolls across the water one morning and says, “Go!”
Vocation is not about being called to a specific job, it is about being called to a life. Each of us have profound purpose in Christ, a gift that only we may offer back to the Creator. That is not found in employment, but in living. Joseph was employed as a carpenter when he was called to the frightful task of marrying a woman who claimed that she was carrying the son of God. What marks Joseph as so incredible is not his life of carpentry, it is his character that, when the angel came to him and told him what he was to do, he did it immediately. That is the place of vocation, that is the place where God turns His favor upon His creation and whispers in excitement, “Now!” and the wild run begins again.
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So, if you are so inclined ...
Four ways to buy:
For iPad or iPhone to be in iBooks.
For any other eReader, including iPad and iPhone. (Download from Lulu, then drag the file into iTunes to load it into iBooks, or open the file in whatever eReader you have! If you need one, Adobe Digital Editions is a free reader that works on everything but Mac OSX Lion.)
For computer and to print, as a PDF. (Download from Lulu and you're ready to go!)
