This year, my new favorite Advent ritual arrived in my mailbox completely by surprise, a gift from my sister. It is the Bible Tea Advent Calendar from Café Emporos (www.cafeemporos.com). The calendar is a gift bag filled with individual packets of tea. Printed on each packet is a Bible verse, brief reflection, and a reflective question. There also is a QR code that links to a Christmas song. Each day, I select one packet from the bag, brew the tea, cue up the music, and then settle in to reflect with the inspiring message on the packet.
This gift has opened a new dimension of Advent to me. As much as I love Advent and commit every year that this year will be the one when I finally enter into the quiet of Advent, the reality is that the first weeks of Advent overlap with the end-of-the-semester wrap up with last classes, final essays, graduation, and plenty of grading. Then, I quickly pull together Christmas cards and gifts before heading to North Carolina to spend a couple of weeks with my family there. Even if I do make it to a special Advent prayer or concert, I reach Christmas spiritually gasping a little, or even a lot!
The gift of this Advent tea ritual has brought a new dimension to the season for me this year. I decided to have my tea and reflection mid-afternoon. I take a pause, whether in my office or at home, to sit, to cherish each new variety of tea, to reflect, to pray. Café Emporos has captured the essence of the experience by describing the calendar as “a ritual of daily stillness” and “a calm and meaningful way to journey through Advent.”
Recently, my cup of Tropical Green came with a reflection on John 3:16, one of the first verses I memorized as a child. When I settled into my rocking chair with my cup of tea and took a first glance at the packet, one word immediately leaped out to me: gave. God gave his only son. It was as if I saw and heard the word “gave” in the verse for the first time. God did more than send his son. God gave his son…to us. The Incarnation offers a gift to the world, a gift that is a person: Jesus Christ. We have the invitation to open our lives to receive Jesus as a gift.
The reflection focused on the love that God gives in Jesus Christ. The reflective question asked, “Where in your life do you need to receive God’s love more fully right now?” My heart replied with a sigh, “Everywhere.” I could feel the fatigue deep in my very being as I continued to ponder this “everywhere” in my life. While I began with my own personal worries, quickly, images of suffering around the world flooded my mind, most prominently, the horrifying scenes here in my own country of immigrants being thrown to the ground, handcuffed, taken away to who knows where. I felt helpless.
As I reflected, I realized that I was thinking of Jesus coming in a place here or there, in one trouble spot or another, like a dab of healing ointment to soothe and heal a wound. I knew, though, that the need is for something much deeper and whole. It’s welcoming new life in myself and the world, a new life who transforms…everything. This new life is an ever-deepening relationship with the One who created us, who brought us into being, who longs for the flourishing of all of creation, who comes to us in love to share life with us, even in, especially in our struggles; the One whose love we share with others through our works of mercy and justice.
In that moment of quiet and warm tea, I could feel the promise offered long ago seeping deep into the very marrow of my bones. I could sense the presence of Jesus Christ calming and nourishing my heart, stirring up the hope still alive in me. For a moment, I could pause from my action, from my work, as important as that is. In this Advent stillness, I could simply rest with Christ. That moment renewed my trust that the gift of Jesus will continue to unfold in mysterious ways in my life and in the world, often subtly yet always transformative.