Posting late in the day because I've been our since 5 a.m. and am just in now!

Today we meet St Beuno who certainly had some strange dreams! However, the key message seems to be about being ready to meet our maker - and how life now should reflect that.  To pit it bluntly, how does my life reflect my readiness to meet God, either because Christ returns or because I die. That can all sound pretty scary or fatalistic, but actually, as I was taught in my teens, it shouldn't be, it's simply a reminder to be the person God calls me to be.

The prayer:

Loving Bridegroom, you call me to be ready.  I prepare myself for the invitation to the wedding feast by the life I live, bu following your commands both in scripture and in my own heart.  Help me to be ready. Amen.

Yesterday and today have been very 'clerical'.  For various, important and urgent reasons, the day off didn't really happen, so I've opted to post a 'dog collar' photo, reflecting the fact that today I've been wearing a clerical shirt.

Then there's also this photo, which is my 'treat' to myself to compensate for not getting a 'proper' day off...

How I might connect this to Advent probably needs some creativity. Maybe something about the unexpected or unplanned, and of the need to take a moment here or there to be kind to ourselves rather than simply pressing on in the cold, dark December night.  The work today was full of privilege.  And the oven chips were very tasty!

Today we move on to what the book refers to as the 'third coming' of Christ - that which most schemes call the 'second coming', and of how we might prepare ourselves for that.

Key to today's musings is the idea of a monastic 'rule of life' - more a 'rhythm' than a 'law', more a 'calendar' than a 'measuring stick'.  It is a helpful take on the much vaunted discipline of 'quiet times' or 'prayer times' that promotes commitment without inducing guilt... the rule is to help us, not to beat us up when (rather than if, I suspect) we fall short.  It's about a structure or framework, maybe more like a scaffold in which we can move around than walls to constrain us.

For many years now, I have struggled to find published Bible study notes that 'work' for me; forays in to PAYG or Northumbrian Community Daily Office are great for a while, and then it all kind of drifts.  What I am learning, over and over, is not to be legalistic, but to find a broad structure, such as 'set aside thirty minutes' or 'read a chapter of a book' or whatever it might be, recognising that God is active in it all, and that the rhythms that suit me may never be those in some published book!

Here's the prayer for today...

God of order and spiritual discipline, in my desire to live more focused on you and to become more like you even in the times when I do not feel like it, help me to keep the commitment to my rule, my way of life, so that I can be a ready for your return as I can be.  Amen.

This is the last of the reflections on what the book terms 'the second coming of Christ,' which is the spiritual indwelling during our earthly lives.

The key idea is of 'abiding in God' (think John 15 vine imagery), of metaphorically staying put, of living life in all its fullness (John 10:10) of being and becoming.

I may be doing the writer a disservice, and it may be baptistic anti-creed leanings, but I was a tad disappointed in the choice of prayer for today as an extract from a creed.  Even so, the idea of  pausing to state what Christ is to me, to us, is a good one - so maybe I'll do that later!

The prayer as published...

I believe in... Jesus Christ, [God's] only Son, our Lord, who was conveived by the Holy Spirit , born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontious Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended into hell;  the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God the Father ALmioghty; from thence he hsall come to judge the living and the dead... Amen

Christmas puddings! More than enough for the community Christmas Day lunch as I think this is meant to serve something like 72 people!!

Advent is definitely a time of buying lots of extra food, of getting ready for the day when people might eat a day's worth of calories in one meal.

I'm never too good at guessing how much food to buy, always preferring to get too much than too little. What I do like is getting together with others - especially those who are on the margins - to celebrate and enjoy each other's company.

Later this week I will serve a full Christmas dinner to a group of young adults - we may even crack open a Christmas pudding!