Friday, December 18, 2015

Jesse and Tree

Tree

What a coincidence that we got our tree just in time for the Jesse figure. We are a bit late this year, but now it is ready. The candles will be lit for the first time on Christmas Eve, then for each service thereafter: three Christmas days, Sundays, New Year's, and last at the Epiphany service. The candles do, of course, need to be replaced along the way, sometimes in red.

This is the traditional open style of tree here for use with candles.



This garland is over the piano, with electric lights, that are on each day. Thomas decorated it this year and I left it just the way he put it.

Jesse

The figure today is the man for whom the whole of this Advent project is named, Jesse. The concept comes from the verses in Isaiah 11: "And there shall come forth a rod out of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots; And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him.... And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious." Even though it is David for whom the Savior's line of descent is named, the father is of sufficient importance to God to be noted as progenitor, for it is the faith of fathers that shapes the subsequent generations. (It may be and often is the case that mothers and grandmothers keep the faith alive in times of falling away - for instance in Communist times - but children tend more to follow their father's beliefs in their adult lives, a responsibility which God expects to be taken very seriously.) Other than being a prolific and caring father of sons, Jesse has few details of his life in the Bible; but from what we know of one son, he must have been a faithful father. One verse does say of Jesse that "the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul."

Note: the figure for Jesse on the print out pages is not after Ruth, where it should be, but on the next page.


Verses for today:
Isaiah 11: 1 - 10
Ruth 4: 21, 22
Samuel 16: 1,10 -13, 17 - 20
Samuel 17: 12, 17, 18
Matthew 1:5, 6
Luke 3: 32

Advent Calendars

Behind one window was this picture of a cookie - a good reminder that it is time to bake.


This cookie cutter - almost 10 inches across - arrived today with a Lebkuchen/gingerbread recipe that I am looking forward to trying. Here it is.

 Lebkuchen/Gingerbread (it is European measurements, so the US equivalents are approximate, see traditionaloven.com for conversions)
120ml/1/2 cup water
100g/ 1/4 cup honey
100g/1/4 cup syrup
280g/ 1/2 cup brown sugar
Bring these to a boil. Then add
1 teaspoon each of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and 330g/1 1/3 cups of butter, stir. Then add 1tsp baking soda. Cool to room temperature. Knead 750g/5 or 6 cups (watch consistency) of flour into the dough. Let rest in a cool spot overnight. Next day, roll out fairly thick (5 - 7 mm), cut out shapes. Bake at 190°C/ 390° F for 5 - 10 minutes. Cool and decorate.


The storybook for today is this one, reminding us to keep promises and honor our obligations to others. I never did understand why, in this story, the prince came to himself when the snooty princess threw the frog at the wall, and why he would  marry her spiteful self. But, again, it does show the importance of fathers leading their children aright, so that all will turn out right.


Angel

Note Pam's angel collection in yesterday's post.
And here is another little angel I made for one of my children's friends.


2 comments:

  1. Thomas did a beautiful job of decorating - Your home is so Christmasy! Lovely!!!

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  2. Thank you much, Mom. Thomas did the piano garland and helped Florian put up all the lights. It's good to have boys around at such times.

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