Advent Journeys

I hope you have enjoyed our new book Advent Journeys.  When I first worte the book, I started with an idea.  I wondered what it was like for Joseph and Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  The road (as you know if you read the book) was well traveled, and with a lot of history.  I tried to relay some of the stories as Mary and Joseph journeyed toward Bethlehem.  I also included in the book some foods they might have eaten and details of some of the more rugged portions of the route.

After writing about Mary and Joseph, I wondered about the journey of the Magi.  I learned a lot of stories from ancient history (including how the ancient Magi learned to adjust the calendar so they would know which month was spring.  I also learned the seven notes of the musical scale are patterned off the seven days of the week.  When the Magi visited their capital and also King Herod, I found out the gossip about their queen and the court of Israel.

As I turned my thoughts to the Shepherds, I realized they only traveled from their fields to Bethlehem.  Rather than a travel diary, I decided to look into what the Shepherds did to fill their time.  I learned about how sheep were cared for and sold.  The Shepherds became real people.

As I added the diary of Zechariah, I studied the daily tasks of the Priests (which is NOT like our worship services today!) and also the layout of the Temple.  I had some fun reading the Jewish Mishnah and hearing senile old men trying to remember what the Temple was like when they served as young men.  Did you discover the secret of the wood shed?

During the final week of the month … the fifth week of Advent (there actually is no fifth week, but we there ought to be one) I take a look ahead to the New Year.  I do this through the second trip of Joseph and Mary with Jesus as they leave Bethlehem and travel to Egypt, and then back to Nazareth.  Through the Journals of the final week of Advent I wanted to help people focus on the future.  For after Christmas we have a new year beginning.  (After Jesus was born he had a life ahead of him … and the life of Jesus was planned).  I have always benefitted personally by taking the week between Christmas and New Years to look ahead.

I included a sixth chapter of the book, Chanukah.  This was to be read during the week of Chanukah.  Because Chanukah (on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev) occurs according to the lunar calendar, the corresponding date on our calendar changes every year.  I will put up a calendar for 2016 on the website some time in January.

Did you enjoy the book?  If you did, would you do me a favor and recommend the book on Amazon.com.  To do this, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click the “write a customer review” button.  It only takes a sentence or two to let people know you enjoyed the book.  Tell them something you enjoyed or learned.  Also raecommend they purchase a copy!  And I would appreciate five stars.

Your review will help others decide to purchas a book next year.  And, it’s not too early … Who would benefit from receiving a book for Christmas (or even better, Thanksgiving) next year??