Prairie Musings

How many of you have already started preparing—or at least planning—your Christmas feast? You all know I’m the chef at our house, and my preparation is well under way. I went to Costco yesterday and bought what my daughter Maggie called a “log of beef” – so big it could be the one delivered to the Flintstone’s car, if you remember the opening sequence of that cartoon, and it’s already encrusted with salt and pepper in my fridge. As someone who loves to cook, I know that sharing a meal is about sharing ourselves—and I also know it takes a lot of preparation beforehand so that I can be fully present during the meal and not running around the kitchen. This Fourth Sunday of Advent is our last chance to prepare for the Christmas Eucharistic feast–our annual celebration of Christ’s incarnation, of God’s presence on earth as one of us. As part of our Advent preparation here, we’ve been reading and watching C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe,” and there’s a banquet scene in