Contrary to the traditional expressions of Christmas in our
country, beginning with the unofficial Black Thursday/Friday celebrations of
commercialism run rampant, and continuing past the ubiquitous Christmas tree
hawkers selling on every street corner, hardware store, and specialty shop,
Christmas has not arrived. Nor has the
Christmas season arrived, not yet.
This Sunday marks a new season in our Christian calendar,
but it is not the Christmas Season, it is the Season of Advent. Advent means "coming," and this
four-week period on the Christian calendar prior to the actual Christmas season
was conceived as a time for us to stop and reflect on the miracle of the
incarnation and of our condition before Christ was born. It is a time to think about where we were and
who we were and what our future would have been without the birth of a baby in
a manger on that first Christmas morn.
Many Christians today do not linger in the Season of Advent,
but rush right on past Thanksgiving to Christmas. But in doing so we miss the longing and the
anticipation of what is to come on Christmas Day. Remember what is was like when you were a
child, and it seemed like Christmas would never come? The presents were wrapped and placed
carefully under the tree. The lights
would glisten each night. Carols would
be sung and the family would gather together with each other and friends to
celebrate the season. But the days
crawled by. The anticipation grew. It seemed as if Christmas morning would never,
ever come.
That feeling, that longing, that utter desire for Christmas
from the very soul of your being -- that, my friends, is what the Season of
Advent is all about.
As the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 130:5-6, "I wait for the
LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more
than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning."
Advent is celebrated through different themes each of the
four Sundays prior to Christmas Eve. The
first Sunday is hope, the second is peace, the third is joy, and the fourth
Sunday is love.
I want to encourage you to make a change this year, to slow
down, to enjoy again the true meaning of this season. To once again anticipate the coming of Christ
and of Christmas as a child. To see once
again through the eyes of a child the magic of Christmas morning. Don't rush Christmas, but enjoy the time of
reflection that is the Season of Advent.
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