In the third week of Advent we light the shepherd's candle to remind us to share the good news. Deborah collects Christmas stories, and every night in December she reads a different one to the boys at bedtime.

In the fourth week of Advent we light the angel's candle to celebrate the miracle that God still sends messages to earth and that we can actually receive them. This is my favorite theme as a student of hermeneutics (the theory of interpretation). In Greek literature the angels are replaced by the gods, Hermes and Iris. Their gift is to be able to speak both to gods and to people, and so to communicate between them.