Posted by Back when Sister Ave Clark was a special education teacher, her students made her an Advent wreath. Only it wasn’t perfectly round like the store-bought ones. Instead, it was noticeably crooked. Sister Ave still has that wreath and uses it as a decoration every year. Why? Because, as one student told her, “It’s not perfect, but it sure was made with love.”
In her latest book “Advent ~ Christmas: A Pilgrimage of Light,” Sister Ave looks at ways that each of us, imperfect as we are, can help the light of love be born again in our hearts during the four weeks of Advent, just as God’s love entered the world in the person of His Son at Christmas. We explored that topic recently on “Christopher Closeup” (podcast below).
Sister Ave notes that the candles on our Advent wreaths are there to make us reflect on hope, peace, joy, love, and, ultimately, Jesus: “Make time each day to take that pause and to feel the light within so that we [can] carry it better into a world that’s shaking a lot with wars, violence, and discord.”
You might think that taking a pause is too difficult to do in a season focused on the “go go go” of shopping and parties. But Sister Ave sees opportunities for stillness everywhere. She said, “You can be still at a red light in the car…Just say, ‘Lord, thank You for this moment.’ Stillness can happen in a shopping market, when you’re waiting on line. Stillness can happen at home, maybe when you carve out 10 to 15 minutes. But stillness isn’t just sitting in a chair. It can be taking a walk, looking out your window. It could also be listening to somebody else on the phone telling you some good news – or some news they’re asking for prayer [for]. I’ve discovered that stillness comes in a variety of ways and a lot of different places.”
Connection can happen in unexpected places, too. While Sister Ave was waiting to mail her books at the post office, someone on line engaged her in conversation. He asked her what the book was about and how much it cost. Since she had an extra copy with her, she gave him the book as a gift. The man thanked her and promised to use it, even though he wasn’t Catholic.
Sister Ave relishes those moments when God shows up in unexpected people and circumstances. She also admits that seeing God in times of darkness takes some effort. That was the case when her car was hit by a runaway train 20 years ago, and she had to endure a year of recovery and rehabilitation.
She reflected, “Do I wish it didn’t happen? Yes. But it brought different lights into my life, of understanding pain and having to adapt your life in a different way that you never thought you would…I said, ‘I wonder what God wants me to learn along this way?’ I can remember my first Christmas after that accident, not being able to go to shops or anything. I said, ‘You know what? A phone call to somebody means a lot. A little note means a lot. Maybe the best gift we could give each other is that light of caring, the kind word, the extra listening, the forgiving, too.'”
Sister Ave has a special place in her heart for those who are infirm or homebound, especially her fellow Dominican sisters. Several of them are now in their 90s and 100s, living in Amityville, NY. “They used to be principals, nurses, college teachers, religious ed,” she explained. “Now, they’re sitting in their rooms.”
After receiving “Advent ~ Christmas: A Pilgrimage of Light,” the sisters were taken by a quote on the back cover: “How will you be a Christ-bearer of the holy lights of Advent — Christmas time?” They decided they would read the book as a group, reflect on its questions and insights, and share the answers in prayer. In other words, even though they can’t be physically active, they remain spiritually active.
Sister Ave observed, “My Dominican sisters are the light of love…Christ took on humanity so that we would know God’s love. So we have to take on each other’s humanity, the glory of it, and sometimes the weakness and the frailty of it, not push it aside…God holds up each person’s humanity, and that’s the wonderful gift of the baby in the manger.”
Sister Ave also looks to Mary, the mother of “the baby in the manger,” as a guiding light. She noted, “Mary said yes, not knowing fully where these lights were going to take her or if the lights would be bright or dim. But she said yes, and it’s the yes of trusting. I think that’s what’s needed in our world right now. Sometimes we have to trust in moments that are difficult or [during] questions that we might have about our own humanity or about the world’s humanity. Mary said yes…She gave her son to everybody. Sometimes that’s what we have to do with our love: to not hold it back, not just give it when it’s comfortable or we’re being applauded. Just give it unconditionally.”
That kind of love was witnessed by Sister Ave’s brother, Dr. Paul Clark, many years ago when he served in Vietnam during the war. A nun named Sister San Quentin (yes, that was her name) lovingly took care of lepers and demonstrated to him “how those suffering people were fellow human beings.” Dr. Clark said he “never forgot her brightness in the midst of war.”
In addition, one night Dr. Clark looked up at the night sky and saw the stars shining brightly. That moment reminded him that “the light will never leave us. It can feel hidden at times, but light never leaves us.”
One of the lights in Sister Ave’s life in recent years is James Palmaro, a poet who is blind. He contributes a few poems to each of her books, and this time he wrote one called “The Advent Wreath” that beautifully captures the spirit of the season. The poem reads:
“The leaves are all gone
The trees are barren and bare
The autumn winds are chilling
Yet anticipation’s everywhere.
It is the Advent season
The winter nights grow near
We search for the warmth inside ourselves
Wreaths are everywhere.
Cousins to our Christmas trees
That bring us joy and brilliance
We place them in and on our homes
And they remind us of resilience.
Circular in shape
Symbols of connection
That despite the cold and dark of night
We’ll find light and resurrection.”
Regarding her hopes for readers of “Advent ~ Christmas: A Pilgrimage of Light,” Sister Ave offers these thoughts: “I hope that they will take the pilgrimage and realize step-by-step and day-by-day…that Christ is reborn in the everyday, not just during Advent. It can be a joyous, peaceful, loving, and hopeful time, and each one of us can make a difference in the world…[by] a kind word, a listening heart, either emailing, calling somebody, writing a note. But probably the most powerful is to pray, to give a prayer away to somebody…We have so much to give away and be thankful for.”
(To listen to my full interview with Sister Ave Clark, click on the podcast link):
Light One Candle - the blog of The Christophers 
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