Snow imposes what Advent intends to do: slow us down, help us see things from a different light, live in the now and look forward in hope.  Peaking at 27 miles an hour on a freeway has a spiritual effect on us.  If nothing else, it reminds us to pay attention (!), which is what Jesus told us to do regarding His second coming.

I’m in my office, watching the snow gently invade as I listen to that mad genius of the piano Vince Guaraldi.  This audio/visual Advent joy is perfectly layered with this Advent quote from Joan Chittister’s book The Liturgical Year.  And she writes:

“Advent relieves us of our commitment to the frenetic in a fast-paced world.  It slows us down.  It makes us think.  It makes us look beyond today to the “great tomorrow” of life.  Without Advent, moved only by the race to nowhere that exhausts the world around us, we could be so frantic with trying to consume and control this life that we fail to develop within ourselves a taste for the spirit that does not die and will not slip through our fingers like melted snow.”

Life in a snow globe, with the Guaraldi jazz trio, with the words of a fellow sojourner who seeks to live the liturgical life, plus the Word made flesh — that’s a good Advent morning to ya.   Indeed Christmas is coming…