Thursday, December 18, 2008

Advent Day 2008: A Gift, and Opportunity

Advent Day with Sarah and Paul Jarzembowski was truly a (pre-Christmas) gift. While I don’t claim to know much about movies (and as anyone who knows me will attest – my list of ‘movies to see’ far surpasses my list of movies ‘seen’), I do know that I LIKE movies – and Sarah and Paul’s words and insight reminded me why. Movies – like the beloved Christmas movies that the Jarzembowski’s highlighted – really help us to take a step back and get a look at the beauty, the messy-ness, and the complexities of life … as well as the simple truths that still resound in humanity.


Sarah and Paul did such a great job drawing out the themes, ideas, and invitations that these movies had to offer, all while their natural charm and humor helped us all enter into a day of ‘retreat’ from the stresses we put on ourselves this time of year. My favorite part of the day, though, had to have been the final prayer service as the words, themes and images of movies like “A Christmas Carol” and “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” were woven together with words from Scripture which invited us all into an experience of transformation … in the midst of the counter-cultural “waiting in joyful hope” we undertake during Advent and throughout our spiritual lives.


- Keara C.

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