5 Quick Things #308 🍊

small shops, stuffing, C.S Lewis, & St. Clement

Hey there,

Happy day-after-Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! I’m most likely on a long morning walk with my family right now because I’m currently writing this on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving …So let’s get right to it. Onward with the five quick things!

P.S. - Oh—one little item of business.¹

Lingering Autumn (1890), by John Everett Millais

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5 Quick Things ☕️

1. New episode of A Drink With a Friend! I'm flying solo in this short one, giving us all a brief 101 and no-pressure, low-key pep talk about Advent. Share this episode if you've got friends and family wanting to know more about this old tradition without feeling overwhelmed.

2. ICYMI, earlier this week I shared my super-simple, contemplative and slightly nerdy gift guide. Enjoy!

3. Speaking of: yes and amen to Haddon Turner’s essay at Over the Field on the essential need for small businesses in our communities. So many good thoughts here, including, “The big monopolies, especially ‘The Dreaded Company Named After a Rainforest’ must be rubbing their hands with glee over the increased customers they will receive from the plethora of collapsed small businesses,” and “Commit to buying from your local small businesses and ethical producers. It is a form of giving ...Losing them should not an option, for if we do, we will lose local distinctions, local produce, and local traditions. In short, we lose a fundamental part of what brings joy into life.”

4. Wednesday was the 60th anniversary of C.S. Lewis' death. Joel Miller atMILLER’S BOOK REVIEW 📚 wrote a lovely tribute to this man whose thoughts have shaped so many of us: “‘After I’ve been dead five years,’ he told his friend Owen Barfield, ‘no one will read anything I’ve written.’” Joke's on him.

5. And finally, I'm continually learning so much from Kristin Haakenson about the lesser-known bits about the liturgical calendar—I really enjoyed this piece about St. Clement's Day (as well as this): “I wonder if Clementing might be more important now than ever, in this age of the lament of disconnected communities.”

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Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence

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Quotable 💬

“Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation that things—the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation—will get better. Hope is trust that God will fulfill God’s promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom.”

- Henri Nouwen

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What's the best food on the Thanksgiving table? 🦃

See, I knew I had the smartest readers in the world because these are all in the exact right order. I’m Team Stuffing all the way.

• Stuffing: 37.3%

• Pie: 23.9%

• Potatoes: 19.4%

• Green Beans: 5.2%

• Turkey: 4.5%

• Bread: 3.4%

Find this week’s poll here.

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Advent Countdown: 8 Days ✨

Advent is soon—it's a week from this Sunday! Listen to this week's episode of Drink as inspiration—here are a few other things you can do to prepare:

1. Order your copy of Shadow & Light: A Journey Into Advent NOW so that you’re not scrambling the night before². It’s currently 30% off here.

2. Register for this upcoming webinar, which is next Saturday, December 2, from 1-3 pm EST. I’ll be speaking about Advent along with a few other folks!

3. Order your Advent candles—here's the kit we use every year, but here, here, and here are some already-made beeswax candles. (And here are some other lovely Advent items.)

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Quick Links 🔗

• 📐Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📔 Order First Light & Eventide

• 🇬🇷 Join Me in Greece: June 20-30, 2024

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Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What are you grateful for happening since last year’s holiday season?

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Have a great weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. One masterpiece from each major movement of Western architecture. Stunning.

1. Yes, last week’s issue went out all wonky, and I have no idea why because it was 100% complete the night before when I scheduled its publication. Thanks to the (literal hundreds) of you who emailed me (and a great many close friends and family members who texted me) to let me know of this. …The thing is, I realized it almost immediately after it was sent out, when I then fixed it on the back end and was thusly right-as-rain on the online version of things. … This led me to realize that I believe there are a great many of you who simply read this email in your inbox, not realizing it’s a newsletter that can be clicked over and read on the Substack website. Which is fine! And in some ways, as it should be, because this is, after all a newsletter. But in future circumstances, should this—or anything else where you’re wondering “Is this the entire gist of this newsletter?”—happen again, freely click over to the newsletter itself, either via the title of the issues (5 Quick Things #X) or via the buttons provided within. Thanks! -the mgmt

2. However, been there, done that — absolutely no shame in that game.