There is Value in the Waiting

The stores are full of Christmas.   Carols are playing; lights are flashing, decorations sparkle.  It’s fast food Christmas.  No need to wait... 

But should we?  Should we wait, prepare, take time to anticipate?

 

The Church has a long history of honoring preparatory seasons.   

Advent is one of them.  This period of observance has developed over centuries for a reason….because it works.  The Church is, after all, made up of people,… centuries of Christians who have bequeathed to us a rich heritage, of traditions that work...

...There is value in the waiting.   

The light shines brighter when you’ve been sitting expectant, awaiting its arrival, in the darkness.  So, as the evenings grow darker and colder, embrace the eclipse of winter.  Be a little counter-cultural.  Put up the manger scene, but hide the baby Jesus away in the sideboard, until Christmas eve, for now.   Ponder the gift.  Experience what it is like to anticipate, to long for, his arrival. 

Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AdventCandles.jpg

By Jonathunder (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 

(www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) 

Copyright: Wikimedia Commons

Consider assembling an Advent wreath. 

 All it really takes is four candles, and a circle of greenery.  One new candle is lit each of the four Sundays between now and Christmas.  They are best lit in the darkness, so that children, and adults, can sense the wonder…the marvel, of one, then… two, three, four tiny flames permeating the long darkness, with hope for the future. 

 Four candles.  There are four candles to be lit before he arrives.

Ditch the fast food culture, and bask in the anticipation.

Pax Christi,

~Michelle

For Your Advent Celebrations


Linked with:
Desiring Virtue's Cultivating a Christ Centered Christmas: Resources and Link-up
 
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