This Sunday, December 8th is the second Sunday of Advent. Advent, of course, is the season of eating one piece of chocolate each day until Christmas Eve.

Additionally, it turns out, Advent is also that season in the church that marks the beginning of the liturgical year. It is a time to prepare and wait for the celebration of God’s Incarnation in the baby Jesus.

This year at Woodridge UMC, our Advent study and worship is guided by a book by the Rev. Matt Rawle, The Gift of the Nutcracker. Last week we considered Clara, the protagonist of “The Nutcracker’ story, and how she shows that Advent is a time of active waiting. Pastor Danita implored us to use this season of active waiting to both “breathe and push.”

This week, part two of The Gift of the Nutcracker asks us to consider how the mysterious figure of Drosselmeir weaves in and out of “The Nutcracker” story. Different versions of the story depict Drosselmeir in different ways: Uncle or Grandfather or Godfather. He can be creepy or scary or kind.

Given the variety of versions of his character, how are we to understand Drosselmeir in this story?

How might Drosselmeir help us better enter our Advent story?

What other connections might we make between “The Nutcraker” and the story of scripture as presented by Isaiah and the Gospel of Luke?

What is it about these stories that entice us to read them and sing them and act them and reimagine them again and again?

Pastor Dave will wrestle with these questions and more this Sunday, December 8th, in his sermon, “What’s so Special about ‘The Nutcraker’?”