Experiencing Advent

Advent truly is the most wonderful time of the year for me. It is a season of preparation, anticipation, waiting, longing, and celebration; you can smell the scent of hope and new beginnings in the air. Every year I crave its arrival more and more.

For the past few years, I’ve noticed that I have developed a routine for entering into the new Christian liturgical year. On the first Sunday of Advent, as soon as I wake up, I sit up in my bed and release a very long exhale. This moment represents my receiving the invitation Jesus extends when he says, “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 CEB). For me, the moment is more than the physical process of letting my diaphragm and the muscles between my ribs relax and reduce the space taken up by air in my chest cavity. It is spiritually breathing out all the pain, suffering, and hopelessness I have experienced within and without during the year past, preparing space so I can breathe in more of life with Christ in the days to come.

Want More God in Your Advent and Christmas?

You’re as tired of hearing about the war on Christmas as I am. I know.

So allow me to tell you a little story about some of my theological forbears, the Puritans. Once upon a time, they deposed a King of England and took over the government there. Among the changes they made was banning Christmas completely because to their minds, it had no biblical justification. And not just in England; at around the same time, the Puritans in what would become these United States did the same thing. For about twenty years, it was altogether illegal in the Puritan colonies to celebrate Christmas, and doing so would earn you a fine.

Now that, friends, is what a war on Christmas looks like. But you know what? Even when it was illegal to celebrate it, I am positive that at least some people found ways to do it anyway. Maybe they couldn’t hang holly or feast, but I am quite sure those who wanted to celebrate found ways to do it. Maybe they added a little extra maple syrup to their food, to celebrate the sweetness of life with God. Maybe they burned a few extra candles or built the fire up a little higher to honor the Light of the World. Maybe they broke off a bit of evergreen branch as they walked by, inhaled the fragrance, and reminded themselves that life would win. Maybe they held hands, pulled a blanket over their heads, and quietly sang “All I Want For Christmas Is You” to Baby Jesus. I don’t know. But I’m sure they did something.

Christmas in Ordinary Times: The Five Questions of Christmas

After we take the ornaments from the tree and carefully pack them away with the other decorations . . . after the joy of gift giving and receiving fades . . . after the glow of celebrating with family and friends . . . after the Christmas carols and holiday specials . . . after the brief interlude of “peace on earth and goodwill to men” . . . life’s great challenges and hard questions remain.

After Christmas, we live in ordinary time.