|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Secular preparations for Christmas seem to begin earlier each year. Yet despite this early start, Christmas is here and gone before we know it. Sometimes Christmas passes, and we don’t see much difference. The pace of life may increase, but we still work and go about our everyday activities. It may be that the key to Christmas making a difference in our lives is for the Advent season to be different. The more we get out of our regular routine, the more different Advent and Christmas are, the better our celebration is, and the better the rest of the year becomes. We need a time of preparation for the spiritual and religious meaning of Christmas, and Advent provides that time. The four Sundays before Christmas are dedicated to preparation and anticipation of the celebration of Jesus’ birth. As we consider various themes (hope, peace, love, and joy), we prepare ourselves spiritually for Christmas. Advent coincides with the weeks of activities like buying and wrapping gifts, preparing cards, baking and decorating cookies (eating the rejects!), putting up a tree, hearing and singing carols, and going to open houses. It is a time of hopeful anticipation. But the presents under the Christmas tree are only the beginning. Anticipation at this level is a secular manifestation of the anticipation of the coming of Jesus, of his birth, and of his continually coming into our lives. It is this anticipation that we celebrate when we light the Advent candles in worship. The themes of hope, peace, love, and joy help us focus on the qualities of life with Jesus. They remind us that the life of the disciple is different from what it would be otherwise. This difference has, at the same time, both present and future aspects. Paradoxically, we both recognize that difference and long for it. The coming of a new baby is a time of anticipation, hope, and joy. There is a joyful sense: “The baby is coming!” Advent is the same for Christians throughout the world. It is as if the birth of the Christ child is still a future event. It is still looked forward to. Similarly, Advent holds the joyful sense that the adult Christ is still coming. The One who came 2,000 years ago is still coming. He is always coming into our hearts and into our communities. Hence the Advent prayer: May we be ready. May we prepare the way for him to enter our hearts and our world. —Eileen Terrill If you have suggestions or ideas for future columns, please contact: Please visit our FAQ page.
|
|
