First Sunday of Advent: Calendars

One of my memories of Advent is the excitement of opening a new door on my Advent calendar each day.  I'm not sure I comprehended the waiting concept of Advent, but the calendar took me through the month of December as a sort of "countdown" to Christmas.  It both built the excitement of a little girl for Christmas as well as forced me to wait... "You mean there's STILL 22 days till Christmas?!?"  It seemed like forever!  Wait.

The tradition of Advent calendars is debated.  What is most common among sources is that the tradition comes from 19th Century Protestant Germany (some specifically say Lutheran).  The "calendar" began as a countdown to Christmas with a chalk mark on the door, lighting a candle for each day (similar to today's Advent wreath), or hanging a picture on the wall each of the 24 days.  The earliest known handmade calendar was from 1856.  As the tradition spread, these calendars developed into pieces of cardboard with 24 candies attached or a blank calendar to which one would attach a picture to each day.  Production of printed calendars with a door to open every day began in the early 20th Century.  According to the Richard Sellmer-Verlag (publishing house) (http://www.sellmer-verlag.de/) it was at this time when the calendars became religious "with Bible verses instead of pictures behind the doors."

"The Little Town"
Richard Sellmer-Verlag's first printed Advent calendar, 1946

During WWII the production of cardboard Advent calendars came to a halt, as cardboard was rationed and printing pictured calendars was forbidden. Richard Sellmer-Verlag was founded in Stuttgart and with permission granted by American authorities on 9 December, 1946 began printing calendars.  By the 1950s, Sellmer-Verlag had become known as the "Home of the Advent Calendar".  Sellmer-Verlag continues to be family-run, now run by Richard Sellmer's grandsons and is the only publishing house in Germany to print only Advent calendars.

Everywhere I look around here there are Advent calendars.  Similar to the US, Christmas "stuff" was out well before Thanksgiving, though Germany doesn't pay attention to when Thanksgiving is!  There are many, many of the tag board calendars of every size with various pictures and themes from the overly-religiousy ones to the rather crude ones which I will leave to your imagination to describe, and everything in between.  Then, there are the more traditional German Advent calendars.  They are wooden frames, somewhat like a shadowbox, with a small package in each day's space.  Or sometimes a fabric wall-hanging to which one can attach a button or picture.

So, we wait.  We wait for the coming of Jesus.  "Christ is coming, of his own will, by his own strength, and out of his own love."[1]  Today we light the first candle, the candle of Hope.

And we wait.

Pax.

[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics.

Free.

Well, it's official.  I'm off to Jerusalem for Christmas.  I have my ticket booked, and now I must figure out how to get to the München airport by 4:00 am on the 23 December.  I am so excited to see Wartburg grad, Elly and my college Greek professor who are both currently serving in Jerusalem.  Then, after a week in Jerusalem, Iga is coming!  Iga is planning our ski trip in Poland for the first week of January.  Lots to look forward to.  I also submitted my updated internship paperwork for next year (I submitted it all and interviewed last year so I wouldn't have so much to worry about here in Germany, or if Germany fell through, I wouldn't be behind).  I am excited to see what internship year brings!

In order to sleep at night, I have had to start wearing off more of my energy.  Two weeks ago I started running again, and this time my body wasn't hating me for it.  That week I averaged 4 mile runs and by Sunday, bumped it up to about 5.  Shoulder is still achy from all this rib business that started back in March, but this time running hasn't made it worse.  Progress...until Monday, a week ago yesterday, when I got tight in the chest and by evening had a killer sore throat.  Thursday bowled me over with a fever.  As crappy as this is, it's also progress:  I've behaved myself quite well, not pushing myself harder through illness but taking it easy and allowing my body the time to recover.  When I woke up Thursday morning, I realized how I never fully appreciated the days when feeling like that meant I stayed home from school.  The days of curling up with the dogs (who were so happy to have someone stay home) and blankets on the couch in front of the fireplace to read "The Saddle Club" books all day.  Growing up is most overrated!

Even though settling in at Augustana Divinity School has been the most difficult transition of coming to Germany, I never had a doubt that Neuendettelsau would become home.  Yesterday Lisa took me to Ansbach (I'd have never made it by myself!) to continue the process of getting my Visa finalized.  Of course official US passport photos aren't up to German standards and there was a royal fuss before they finally said, "Well, we'll let it go, but if any of your information changes, you have to re-do your pictures."  Hopefully one more trip to Ansbach in a few weeks and all will be complete.  As long as nothing changes.  There go my plans for getting married in Germany!

I am continually amazed by you all, both here and at home, family and friends.  Prayers.  Notes.  Emails.  Invitations.  And some rockin' games of Tischtennis!  I cannot thank you enough.

My room is getting cozier with my violet, cross, bunny, a couple candles, and most importantly, a candy dish.  So far I've even had enough discipline to not munch out of it constantly.  In my reading, I came across an appropriate quote by Bradshaw:  "By being in your mind and constantly thinking about eating or not eating, you can distract yourself from your feelings."  Yup.  And I like it that way.  Chocolate is much more pleasant than feelings.  Fortunately, physical activity is my other choice of avoidance.

My continued work on "CPE issues" and life is proving to be worth all the pain and struggle.  Life brings so much more enjoyment, and I can laugh again.  For real.  Really laugh, not just smile.  I still surprise myself when I do, but it's a wonderful surprise!  A whole new level of energy...hence my need to run!  A weight is gone off my shoulders.  I'm not sure what exactly it is, but this new freedom is allowing me to...be me.  I am beginning to gain a sense of who I am instead of the person I've created based on my perception of the world's expectations.  John 8.32 continues to stick with me.

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (NRSV)

Pax.

Buß- und Bettag

Today, 16 November, 2011, the Wednesday before the last Sunday of the church year, is Buß- und Bettag, or Day of Prayer and Repentance.  The day as a national German holiday was established in 1532 and eliminated in 1995 for financial reasons--in order to add another day of work without increasing pay.  Bishop Hans Christian Knuth, of Schleswig, said of the day, "The deletion of the Day of Prayer and Repentance has injured our identity, our values and our religious life. We are about to worship the golden calf."  Both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany and the Catholic Church resisted, claiming the government must protect the vulnerable and focus on social peace.  Though no longer a non-working holiday in most of Germany, the state of Saxony refused to go along with the financial plan. It also remains a school holiday in Bavaria.  

For Protestants, this day is set aside for reflection.  Reflection on the Christian and societal responsibilities.  Reflection on how one can live the Gospel's call.  Reflection on one's own shortcomings.  Confession.  Eucharist.  Hope.  Reconciliation.

Pax.

Life in Neuendettelsau

Tap, tap, tap.  Tap.  Tap.  6:30 this morning, I opened my eyes to see a chickadee sitting on my windowsill.  What a fun wake-up call!

This first week in Neuendettelsau has been full. Not necessarily full of doing things, but full of adjusting and figuring things out.  This has been the most difficult transition since leaving the USA, but perhaps the best one.  I know where the food is.  I located the churches, the yarn store, and several grocery stores.  The walking/running/biking paths are becoming more familiar.  There are other things that will take some adjustment.  I've almost started to think about being comfortable in co-ed bathrooms/showers.

Monday I spent 7 hours doing paperwork and orientation, Visa application, bank account, insurance, seminary registration...oh what fun!  However, the important things I've done here include finding and purchasing the cross I've been waiting for since I first saw it (here in Neuendettelsau) in 2007.  I lost my discipline somewhere on the walk and the cross came with a bunny, also hand-made at Diakonie Neuendettelsau.  Diakonie Neuendettelsau is what originally drew me back to Neuendettelsau.  It is an institution committed to serving the needs of all people:  the elderly, the sick, the young, those with disabilities, in the mission “To testify the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in word and deed by living a Christian life, working professionally, and making responsible use of economic resources.” [1]  

Diakonie Neuendettelsau was founded by Wilhelm Löhe in 1864. Löhe, at the age of 29 and newly married, was placed as pastor in Neuendettelsau. He had not impressed the church government and so this was a tiny town meant to take away any influence he might have on the church. He despised the town saying, "I would not even want my dog to be buried here."[2]  However, he was very influential (to the church's dismay!) and remained in Neuendettelsau until he died in 1872 at the age of 64.

Pastor Wilhelm Löhe and Fall Colors

Löhe's theology had 5 main foci: pietism (which focused a person on serving others), confessionalism (holding to Lutheran confessions as the true Christian teachings), liturgy (where people encounter God as God works through the liturgy), diaconia (the living out of the Christian life), and mission.[3]    Löhe writes, “Mission is the life of the catholic church.  Where it stops, blood and breath stop; where it dies, the love which unites heaven and earth also dies.” [4]

 

 

Löhe also had great influence on Lutheranism in the United States.  He found himself responsible for sending missionaries to the States to fill the great need for pastors among the German immigrants.  He assisted in the founding of the LCMS, but after a theological disagreement moved his focus to beginning the Iowa Synod where there was little connection to the LCMS.  Here, he helped establish a "teacher's school" which for financial reasons was eventually split into two locations which are now known as Wartburg College in Waverly, IA and Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, IA.[5] Small world, huh?

Two days of class have provided plenty of opportunities to laugh. I missed my first class all together yesterday, being mixed up as to what day it was. Not Monday, apparently. By the time I got to my remaining class yesterday, my brain was so fried (freid?) I couldn't even tell the professors what my name is. These are the moments I need to keep learning to laugh instead of panic. I'm getting better, but still have a way to go! Today went much better and I was in the right places at the right times. People keep telling me I need to have patience and that the language will come along. "Ich habe keine Geduld." means "I have no patience." and I know how to say that!

Courses I'm looking at "taking" are:

"Feminism in Film"

"Letter to the Galatians"
"Ecumenism and Mission"
"Jesus of Nazareth"
"Introduction to Islam"
"Laity as Protagonists of the Reformation"

I don't have to decide for a couple weeks which ones I want to be official, as long as it adds up to 8 semester hours.

Pax.

---

[1] Hermann Schoenauer, “Diakonie Neuendettelsau” in Shaping Lives
[2]Larry Trachte “Wilhelm Loehe, Disciple,” Currents in Theology and Mission 33, no. 2 (April 2006): 158.

[3]Craig Nessan, Loehe in America.

[4] Wilhelm Loehe, Three Books about the Church, ed., trans. and intro. James L. Schaaf (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 59. 

[5]Nessan, Loehe and the Iowa Synod.