Daily Meditations
I feel as if I have missed so much of advent. I love the readings, the candles, the feeling of the season. Usually I feel such a sense of anticipation but this year that is absent. I almost dread Christmas. I am not ready. For me it is about giving and this year I have so little to give. Advent gears me up and instills a sense of awe.That awe is not present.
Seek that awe.It is what gets us ready for the birth of Jesus. It helps us to experience Christmas with all the joy it demands.
We need to remember that God is our Father and our Mother. He is all things. Our simple minds form God in ways that we can understand and we don’t have any word to encompass all that God is. That may go some way to explain why God’s name was never spoken….there was more there than could be grasped. Think about the many images and ideas about who God is during this season of advent.
In the church that I belong to Advent is the first season of the church year. This is our New Year. The church set aside three years for reading most of the significant parts of the Bible to be sure that they are read over the three years.
The word Advent is derived from the Latin word “coming’ which we know reflects the coming of Christ into the world. The beginning of advent starts with one candle being lit and the rest each Sunday. There can be four or five candles in the wreath. When there are five the fifth is lit for Christmas.
During advent we can get very busy with all the preparations for Christmas…buying gifts, baking cookies, decorating and it is so easy to forget the point of it all. Take some time to think about the arrival of a child who will change everything.
It is advent my favorite season of the church year. I am sad that I can’t attend church and see the advent colors on the alter and the wreath lit week after week. I miss it so. I love this hymn that can be used adding a verse each week.
Advent is for anticipation and expectation. It is a time for looking toward good things. What could be better than the birth of a baby. Even after the upheaval of moving, downsizing and changing our lives completely I still want to immerse myself in the coming joy.
Hear God in Other Voices 