A few years ago I wrote a set of Advent prayers that I want to make available to everyone this Advent. They first appeared on www.explorefaith.org, and are written in a way that invites us to enter the deep stillness that Advent offers in order to better know ourselves and God. The prayer for the 2nd Week of Advent is titled, Winter's Gold. It’s my favorite because it engages nature and the senses. It is a prayer that needs to be experienced as well as read. So, spend time with it…

Gracious God, the leaves have fallen, the air has become cold, and bare trees now seem to open the sky.  Remind me that this is a time to slow down in order to be attentive to the stark stillness winter brings.  Help me breathe deeply the frigid air and know myself to be held in the warmth of your love.  When the sun is high, let me look up and be bathed in your gift of winter's gold.  When the moon lights up the night, let me look up and drink in your gift of snowy calm.  I ask this for the sake of your love.  Amen.

I also want to remind you that this month’s Daily Muse is focused on the role of angels in our lives. Take a minute or two a day to click on the Daily Muse Calendar and see what angel might be popping up in your life today! You might be surprised!

While angels are welcome companions at any time, the month of December seems an apt time to give attention to the many and diverse ways that angels impact and influence our lives. The Christmas story is replete with the angelic presence. Religious images portray the birth of Jesus with 'cherbubs fair, flitting through the air.' but angel messengers are more than chubby-cheeked cherubs!

This month The Daily Muse will be dedicated to angels and how they reveal God's care and love to us. Part of my spiritual practice is dispatching angels. In fact, many of you contact me when you feel the need of an angel dispatch. Well, this month, I'm dispatching angels to everyone, every day via The Daily Muse. Stay on the lookout by reading and reflecting on The Daily Muse each day in December.  You may meet an angel you hadn't expected!

Please share this with your friends, and if you would like to purchase a printed copy of this month's meditations, you can do so here