Last winter as I was writing Lenten reflections I found myself in frequent conversations with my friend David about the meaning of the season and about the ways that each of us was preparing for Holy Week and Easter.

    It wasn’t long before I was thinking to myself, “It would really be fun to write with David!”  So I asked, and David enthusiastically agreed to join me in authoring the daily reflections planned for Advent and Christmas (December 2, 2012  through January 5, 2013).  We spent the late Spring and early Summer trading emails and meeting for coffee to chat about the project.  The writing in earnest began in Summer and culminated in September.  David was a very disciplined writer and that was a good influence on me!  We both read and edited one another’s pieces and often added ideas and or thoughts to a reflection.  David and I both felt that, though we each took primary responsibility for about half of the days, that the end result was the product of our collaboration.  For that reason we did not claim authorship of any particular reflection and I have chosen to honor that habit by not designating any of the reflections as either mine or David’s.

    David finally succumbed to the cancer that had been a part of his life for fourteen years.  His courage and resilience, and gentleness through every new painful setback will forever be a witness to me of the power of the human spirit and of the comfort found in a profound trust of God.  David did not just know about God — he knew God!  His friendship with me is what I imagine Jesus was talking about when he told the disciples that they were his friends — the height of human relatedness.

    I hope that these daily reflections will be a blessing to you as you make your way through Advent and Christmas.  They have already been a blessing to me — PHL