submergence

Gaudete: Rejoice!

Advent is my favorite season of the church year, and the 3rd Sunday in Advent is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday where the text of the Magnificat is read. Gaudete is Latin for rejoice. We are all invited to become like Mary and be theotokoi (God-bearers). We are invited each Advent to allow God to be born in us anew ... which is the most amazing reason in the world to rejoice.

To properly celebrate Gaudete, Advent and Xmas, as Abbess of Church of the Apostles and the Fremont Abbey, I have used my 'Abbess powers' (which I define as the calling to bless and release things) to bless and release an Advent Ale called Gaudete.

Gaudete is a unique Christmas style beer (dark, porter based, with a bit of smoke, sweet spice and a dry finish) and is a 'limited release' (like, only three cases exist). It is to be enjoyed reverently, in moderation, and with thanksgiving to God, at various celebrations within our community this season.

Our Abbey brews come from our friend Joel at Two Beers Brewing, a new and true 'micro' brewery currently located in our own Fremont neighborhood in Seattle.

We support their ethos and 'theology' of brewing, which is as follows from their website.

We are connected to the Earth.  We are connected to each other.  And we cannot escape either of these realities. Is that a reason to make amazing beer?  We are at Two Beers Brewing Company think so.  You see, beer is one of the original beverages that was created thousands of years ago.  Long before soda and even lemonade.  Beer is made from all naturally grown ingredients and always has been.  No artificial sweeteners, no susbstitutes, nothing that is a product of 21st century invention.  Therefore when a crop fails somewhere the prices change in ingredients.  Making amazing beer is a beautiful way to remind us that we are connected to the earth. Drinking amazing beer certainly isn’t fun by ourselves either. It is much more fun to invite some friends over, or go to a pub, and enjoy a beer in community.  This also causes us to slow down just enough to remind us that we are connected to each other.  We do enjoy our friends.  And although our life may still feel slightly out of whack we are momentarily comforted by the fact that there are people around us. So take some time.  Look at the world. And surely you will gain a new perspective. " (from Two-Beers Brewing).

So, if you are in the Seattle area and in need of Good News, good company, and great tidings of joy to all the earth, join Church of the Apostles for our two remaining Advent masses: Saturday Dec 15, 5 pm (at Fremont Baptist Church) and Saturday, Dec 22nd, 5 pm (at the Fremont Abbey) and the Mass of Christ, Monday Dec 24, 10 pm (at the Fremont Abbey).
Gaudete in Domino to you and yours (Abbess Karen).

 

emergent tea-ology

one of our tearistas (gwen owen) found this on the internet, made by someone in the u.k. to make a point about the iraq war, and perhaps many wars.

we have found this to be a great poster for our non profit living:room tea lounge. we think that peace making is tied to forming community, and forming communty is aided by a soothing cup of tea (or sharing any good beverage with friends), after all, it would be harder to go and off someone in a blood war, or war of words, or war of anything... after having shared a 'common pint or cup' with them, eh?

mate - a drink for emergent bloggers

at the beginning of the new year, i want to share my secret passion for yerba mate with all my blogmates. our apostles community runs a tea bar called living:room (with 30 kinds of tea) right here in seattle, the world 'coffee mecca,' and home of the omnipresent green mermaid.

our irreverent 'beverage infidel' motto is 'tea, the new coffee - one billion people in china can't be wrong!'

recently, i have been able to take comfort in the fact that one of my musical heroes (moby) has also gotten the tea bug, with the hottest cafe in new york city being his teany lounge.

so, if you can go with 'tea being the new coffee,' (and admit the chinese and brits were right) then you can take the next leap into 'mate being the new tea.' yerba mate (a native south american plant) might be the world's healthiest leaf beverage, even trumping asian green tea for health properties. read all about mate here.

in addition to some healthful properties, mate is a ritual drink of friendship, so it fits the emergent Christian ethos of being relational and re-newing deep, ancient traditions that support community and spirituality.

you can get mate in tea bags (good for beginners) or drink it loose using a normal tea strainer or french press, (next level) but when you are ready to take on the full tradition, go 'loose and natural,' using a modern bombilla (like the one pictured left) and a deep ceramic bowl or regular coffee mug.

trad. mate can taste bitter to non-south americans, so brands like salente are ideal for northerners, as salente takes premium mate, blends it mellow and makes it available in some great flavors. my favorites include 'premium blend,' 'mint' and 'white chocolate.'

you can add a lump of sugar or a pak of splenda (the no calorie sweetner) to your mate and experience liquid nirvana.

if you decide to try a flavored mate, write a comment and let me know what you think. i think mate is a great beverage for emergent bloggers, as it calms stress, lifts your mood and sharpens mental clarity. so 'blog on and drink up,' as like a good belgian beer, mate is 'proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.'