Once upon a time, a friend sent me a card in which she included these words:
I had a dream that I was building a door. It was a beautiful wooden door. It was partially open as I was working on it and the frame. Friends came by to help but it was my door—I was in charge and competent enough to build a door. And it wasn’t a ‘keeping out’ door, but it was a ‘going through’ door. I think that’s just where I am in my life. I need to claim me, my doors, and my ability to make them with the intention of going through them.
So—in that spirit, it’s “BUILD YOUR OWN DOOR” DAY here at The Advent Door. I’ve scooped up a handful of scraps from the (large) piles that have been accumulating on my drafting table this season. They’re for you. Use them lavishly. There’s plenty more where these came from.
What kind of door are you needing in this season? Is it a “keeping out” door, a “going through” door, an “I’m going to need to ponder it for a while until I figure out what kind of door it is” door?
Is it a door that opens out, or opens in?
What do you need for the building of your door?
How will you get what you need?
Who or what could provide sustenance as you create your door?
Today, I’m needing a “Turning My Attention to What Hasn’t Gotten Done While I’ve Been Living Between the Drafting Table and the Computer” kind of door. I’m thinking it’s time to start figuring out Christmas presents. My sweetheart says I could tell my family that I’m dedicating a day’s blog post to each of them as their gift this year. Intriguing, but…!
Here’s a prayer for your door-making in this season:
When I scan other skies
for signs of hope,
and when I walk other paths
with a longing for home,
God of the exile,
lead me back through my own door.Tell me
my forgotten stories,
feed me
the words I have given away,
and draw my gaze
from the far horizon
that I may see the lights
in my own sky.©Jan L. Richardson, from Night Visions:
Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas
A blessing upon you and your Advent door.
An Illuminated Joy
December 19, 2007 at 12:55 pm |
These postings have been such a gift to me. The art, the poetry, the personal sense of having a cool friend to talk theology with. Today’s make your own door exercise reminds me that C.S. Lewis said he wrote the Narnia books because they were the sort of books he wanted to read and realized he was going to have to write those books because nobody else would. Jan, thank you for creating this kind of book (in the new media sense of the word) and for sharing it with us. Thanks for not selling out or giving up. Thanks for caring about beauty in a world that seems programmed for excess and banality. Blessings