It is an interesting oddity, in American Christian homes, that the departure of Thanksgiving, and the approach of Advent, cross paths in the night.
“Black Friday” finds me, not shopping, but mildly overwhelmed by the confluence of pumpkins, evergreen, and purple candles that has exploded into my living room. The lingering relaxed state of Thanksgiving, meets the approaching footfall of Advent traipsing up my walk, with a bit of a start.
It doesn’t leave a lot of time for transition.
But, maybe this is a blessing. Maybe the point of Advent, is preparation. After all, Christmas doesn’t arrive for another four weeks, or so. There is much self-examination, contemplation, ….sweeping out of the spiritual cellar, to be done before our Lord arrives.
That is sort of the point.
Maybe part of the lesson, in all this, is that no one is really ever prepared. That's why we needed the free gift of grace,... and grace is the reason that we will survive our human brokenness. It is why the incarnation was an ineffable event... It affirms that we have worth, in Christ, even in our humanity.
So, I suppose I shouldn’t be concerned that there is still a fat orange pumpkin on my hearth, as I set out Mary and Joseph. Perhaps, sending my daughter out, to the front door, to,…“Take down the Fall wreath and replace it with the Christmas wreath”,…. is a natural transition. Gratefulness is a wonderful backdrop for gearing up to welcome the greatest gift of all…
Oh Come, O Come Emmanuel...
...Hopefully, by the time you get here, we’ll be ready.
After all, that is the purpose of the Advent season, isn’t it?
Linked with:
A Ten O'Clock Scholar: Nativity Carnival
Please visit her nativity carnival for wonderful Advent links!
And:
Desiring Virtue's Cultivating a Christ Centered Christmas: Resources and Link-up
Pax Christi,
~Michelle
Linked with:
A Ten O'Clock Scholar: Nativity Carnival
And:
Desiring Virtue's Cultivating a Christ Centered Christmas: Resources and Link-up
Thanks for joining the Nativity Carnival!
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me!
ReplyDeleteMichelle, thanks for stopping by my blog. What a beautiful family you have! (I understand the miracle of a daughter!) I enjoyed reading your Nativity Carnival post, and some other posts as well. Nice to meet you!
ReplyDeletePreparation, you made me think, maybe the overlapping is reminding us, all the seasons of our lives should be overlapped with the preparation, the readiness... thanks for the thoughts and sweet post!
ReplyDeleteIt can often be a hurried and hectic time of year. We usually spend our "Black Friday" and the weekend which follows transitioning our home from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Thank you for sharing with us over at NOBH!
ReplyDelete