ADVENT COUNTDOWN 4

In the beauty of its breaking,

in the music of its dawn,

Like an angel chorus 'waking

when the Heavenly day is born,

Comes again the day of promise,

Comes again the Christmas morn.

Beam, bright Eastern sky in glory,

till our doubt clouds roll away;

Ring, sweet Christmas bells, the story,

ring forever and for aye,

Till our living be but loving

And our dying be but day.

—John Trotwood Moore, "Christmas Morn."

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[The word "Advent" comes from the Latin adventus, which means "coming." In the Christian church Advent is that period of expectant waiting leading up to the Nativity of Jesus. Some prefer to think of it as a "Countdown to Christmas." If you've ever had an Advent calendar, you know that each day prior to Christmas has it own window, usually hidden behind a little flap or door, behind which is a scene or verse from the Scriptures. I thought it would be fun to take that idea and post a daily photo with a bit of text below—a stanza or two from a Christmaspoem or a few lines of prose from a favorite Christmas story. The photos aren't intended to be tied with the text. Some are just ones I meant to run with a post this past year, but for whatever reason, didn't. To set these posts apart from my regular—or irregular!—ones, I've given them a different typeface and look.]