How We Bloom!

Poinsettia ‘Mirage Red’

POHUTUKAWA

Blandfordia nobilis

Various flowers have become connected with Christmas. Here in the US it is the poinsettias. I really love the tradition of poinsettias around the altar. And I am a traditionalist. I like the red poinsettias best. New Zealand also has a red Christmas flower – the native Pohutakawa – which flowers right at Christmas time, It is found along a lot of the coastline and looks especially pretty when contrasted with the blue ocean.

In Australia in the bush there is the Christmas Bell, part of the Lily family. Of my 60 years, I have celebrated more Christmases in the southern hemisphere – 37 in Australia, and 6 in New Zealand; and it is my 17th Northern Hemisphere Christmas coming up - my 16th US Christmas – 15 for Ohio and 1 in Wisconsin, and then 1 in Bayreuth in Germany. Especially in the northern hemisphere, it’s wonderful to see the color of nature in winter, when many trees have lost their leaves and there are hardly any flowers.

I can hardly wait until we see the Ascension sanctuary filled with the beauty of poinsettias,
and lots of candles. Though doing some waiting through Advent will help us all to bloom
ourselves and as a community. Through the Advent worship, Vicar Kimberly will be drawing our focus and reflection to 5 ancestresses of Jesus (Ruth on December 2, Tamar on December 5, Rahab on December 12, Bathsheba on December 19 and concluding on the Fourth Sunday of Advent on December 23 with Mary. And we will bloom as a community on Sunday December 2 – working together to decorate the sanctuary and the whole church – after the 10am worship. Come dressed in casual clothes. Another new blooming will be the Children’s Christmas Program being held between the morning services on 12/16. Oh, and Christmas Eve. I love our Christmas Eve traditions at Ascension, of having both the contemporary (7pm) and traditional service (10pm) , and having candle lighting and communion at both services. And then we have the 12 days of Christmas, with one worship service at 10am on 12/30 – where again we will sing carols and hear more about the history of those carols. And the 12 days will end on Epiphany which this year is on a Sunday, January 6.

I’m hoping for you that this Advent/Christmas will be a time of renewal for you, that it will help you to bloom where you are planted, and wherever Jesus leads you. Remember that Advent is a little bit like Lent – a time for reflection and preparation for what Jesus’ coming means. I hope you will have a little down time to sit and ponder. Bless you on this blooming Advent/Christmas journey.

~ Pastor Tim.