The Christian season of Advent, which includes the four Sundays prior to Christmas, comes from much older traditional practices. Many European cultures observed the moon cycle leading up to the winter solstice as a time of preparation, anticipation & laying down seed for "the coming" light.

Advent season invites us to step away from and counter the frenzy of consumer holidays. Capitalism encourages excess, work, gluttony and striving. It becomes harder to find the rest, stillness and quiet during the darkest time of the year. 

Advent is an opportunity to slow down, practice quietude and reflection, commune with silence, rest in stillness and behold the mystery of darkness as we faithfully await "the coming" of the light. We might benefit from intentionally reclaiming the ancestral values of self-restraint and reflection that once epitomized this holy season.

To honor the roots of this indigenous European observance we will gather together in…