December 22, 2022
Advent for All - In Bethlehem
Week 5
“The old, old story has all its first freshness as we tell it to the eager listeners; as we listen to it ourselves with their vivid interest it becomes as real and fresh to us as it is to them. Hard thoughts drop away like scales from our eyes; we are young once more with the children’s young life, which, we are mysteriously made aware, is the life eternal. What a mystery it is!”
~Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, p 281
Holidays can be challenging and hectic. So this weekly series of Advent and Christmas inspiration features readings from the Bible, music, poetry, picture books, art, handicrafts, recipes, and more to help us savor the season. Our hope is that every member of the family will find something for them and that the various resources would help families, neighborhoods, classes, and other communities carve out spaces for joy, reverence, wonder, and expectation this season as we focus attention on the birth at Bethlehem and beyond.
Bible Reading
Luke 2:1-21 and Matthew 1:18-25
Listen
Mi Burrito Sabanero and Zozulenka. Read more about the origin of Mi Burrito Sabanero here if interested.
View
Nativity by Carol Aust and Rembrandt’s Nativity. Discuss the different ways each artist has depicted the biblical story. What is the mood in each piece, and what about the work do you think creates that feeling? A Californian artist born in 1958, Aust’s piece is created with acrylic paint on canvas. Rembrandt’s piece is an etching dated to 1654.
Activities
- Make festive hiking sticks!
- Many cultures celebrate Christmas with fireworks. Consider buying some and setting them off on Christmas Day (if they are legal in your area)!
- Celebrate Iceland’s Jolabokaflod (“Christmas Book Flood”) by a night of reading (and consider gifting a book to someone else!). Suggestions for this week: Father Christmas Letters by Tolkein (free audio excerpts), The Christmas Tapestry, Silent Night, The Nutcracker in Harlem, The Huron Carol.
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman."
~Galatians 4:4
Week 5
