It’s been a long time since 22
I don’t remember you looking any better
But then again I don’t remember you
John Mayer, Who Says

As Thanksgiving, Advent and my 31st birthday collide in this frenetic weekend, I can’t help giving thanks for paths and roads behind me. I can’t help anticipating the journey ahead. There is so much forever undone. So much left to do. So much undiscovered and unrecognizable. So much lost and gained. So much defeat and glory. So much failing and grace.

As I sail on, I am comforted by Madeleine L’Engle, who shared November 29 with me as her birth-date as well.

To be human is, yes, to be fallible….But our very fallibility is one of our human glories. If we are fallible we are free to grow and develop. If we are infallible we are rigid, stuck in one position, as immobile as those who could not let go the idea that planet earth is the centre of all things.

And in the early glow of an Advent candle, I can’t help remembering that Christ saw fit to become human, to take on this frame and dust. To show us how crazy beautiful it can be.