On Preparing for the Light in Advent
The tender quiet of Advent and childlike bliss of Christmas are gifts of grace which are granted our age ever more rarely. Life has become too noisy and hectic, fate too harsh and dramatic. Yet, the secret of Advent’s quiet can be compared with the sensibility of a woman about to become a mother. The hope embodied in this sensation does not relate to a neutral event that will ultimately occur. Indeed, the woman who carries a child does not merely look forward to an event that will take place in due time. Early on, she is constantly enveloped and surrounded by the soul of the being for whom she is allowed to offer a body.
In our age, the same change comes to pass which the pregnant mother has to undergo when the calm months of anticipation are replaced by the labor of childbirth. She suffers all the pains and fearful tribulations because she knows they serve her own hope. Today, destinies overcome us that are nothing less than the birth pangs passing through humanity. We must give birth to something new that serves the purpose of our salvation. A new Christmas event is imminent in our age for which we have to prepare. Read more
The “Living Gold” conference for congregations and priests from North and South America took place on Vancouver Island, July 21-29, 2012. The final number of participants was 196, which included fifteen priests, ten children and five Camphill companions. From Canada there were 75 (some only part-time), 53 from the USA, 32 from South America, and also a diverse group from Germany, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa, the Netherlands Antilles and the Philippines.
When Jesus went down to the river that day
Rev. Ann Burfeind was born in Chicago and grew up on a farm in the upper Midwest. She was a Waldorf class teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and for many years worked, in various capacities at the Christian Community summer camp in the Midwest. Earlier this year she completed the Seminary curriculum in Stuttgart, Germany, and was ordained on March 18th, in Spring Valley, NY. Rev. Burfeind is now returning to her roots in the Midwest as a priest in the Christian Community in Chicago. Welcome back Ann!
Rev. Darryl Coonan is a native of Australia and lived there until he entered the Seminary in Chicago, in 2008. During his time in his home land, he worked as a nurse for 13 years. His experience working as a community health nurse led him to further his education to more effectively work with drug dependence and mental illness. He went on to complete four graduate level programs, which he then utilized in his work in the field of addictions, major psychiatric conditions, and in his own private psychotherapy practice.