Slightly late I know, but advent has begun! Welcome to the season of festivities…

If you’re looking for an alternative to the credit crunch and the busy yuletide shopping season, how about signing up to Christian Aid’s Advent-inspired email? The handy hints, which will be emailed daily from the 1st December until Christmas Eve, are designed to help you save cash, cut carbon emissions and have some Yuletide fun. You can sign up for them here.

I came across this stunning piece of liturgy a couple days ago on Stewart’s blog, written by Roddy Hamilton

let us go out
with quiet boldness,
tender daring,
simmering anger,
impatient justice.

let us go out with provocative peacemaking
into advent,
enough to crack open the moribund and dry faith of the world
in it’s spent and necrotic cravings.

let us go out with a message
that disturbs the world with restless whispers
about god and incarnation,
goosebumps and justice.

let us go out
and muffle our laughter
behind an unnerving truth
heaven-shaped
sharp-edged
waiting to crack it all open
and let the glory through
with a living word:
jesus

Beautiful… may we come to know the God of goosebumps and justice more this Advent season…