Well, at least you can’t say I didn’t
warn you. During the season of Advent,
my heart is always a little full, and there is never a shortage of sap. I, like so many other people, do adore
Christmas, not just the day, but the season.
Clark W. Griswold, Jr. may rival my love of the fun, old fashioned
family Christmas, but I would never question that it’s the season to be merry
(or is it Mary?) or waver in my dedication to have the hap-hap-happiest
Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny Kaye (in another of my
all-time favorite movies).
I’m not going to channel Linus VanPelt
right now and give you rundown of what Christmas is all about. That’s not what I’m trying to do today. Today, I’m thinking of the waiting; the
waiting, the anticipation, the preparation, all leading up to the
celebration. In the liturgical calendar,
the church year begins on the first Sunday of Advent. While Advent may fall at the end of our
regular calendar year, for Christians, it is just the beginning. Christmas is the beginning of the Easter
story. Each week has a different focus; hope, peace, joy and love. Then, the last focus is on the coming of
Christ.
To me, the anticipation makes the
celebration sweeter. Frederick Buechner
said it better than I could in The Magnificent Defeat, “For outlandish
creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain and courage, Bethlehem is not
the end of our journey but only the beginning – not home but the place through
which we must pass if we are ever to reach home at last.”
Those of you who know me (and let’s be
honest, I doubt anyone who doesn’t know me is reading this blog), know that I
absolutely love surprises. I will go out
of my way to avoid ruining a surprise. I
have never searched for Christmas presents; I have never shaken them, I have
never tried to un-tape one corner to have an early look or made an attempt to
convince my little brother to open them for me. Along those same lines, if you know me, you
also know that patience is not one of my virtues. In certain situations, I may be able to feign
patience and with some people it manifests itself in different ways; however,
patience is most definitely not something that comes easily. That being said, Advent is a different kind
of waiting. This is not a sit around,
twiddle-your-thumbs, count the minutes kind of waiting.
“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and
slow – that is patience. The two most
powerful warriors are patience and time.” –Leo Tolstoy
This is exactly that; an active
waiting. As we wait, we prepare. We reflect.
We also wrap presents, decorate, go see Santa, foster the wonder of the
season, bake cookies, travel all over the place, party, and watch every single
Christmas movie/special/hallmark program that we can binge between Black Friday
and Christmas Day. Somewhere in there,
we like to think that our priorities stay in line; that we do think of the less
fortunate, that we are teaching our children that this season isn’t about gifts
or money or cramming as much as possible into one month. My “Psalty’s Christmas Calamity” record (yes,
record), put it so nicely when I was a child; “Christmas is a time to
love.” Christmas is a time for hope, for
peace, for joy and yes, for love.
I do not mean that we should rebound and
completely forego any of the wonder of Santa or gifts or any other fun, silly
parts of Christmas. I am not campaigning
about semantics, to keep the “Christ” in “Christmas.” There is no possible way that any of us could
take him out. I am not saying that
Christians are being persecuted when someone says “Happy Holidays,” because
there is nothing wrong with saying “Happy Holidays.” In fact, “Happy Holidays” to all of you. When we concentrate on those things, our
priorities are just as skewed as if we take to the opposite extreme.
This year, seemingly more than others,
we all need a little Christmas. No
matter where you fall on the political spectrum, it has been a bit of a tough
year. There have also been wildfires,
deaths, hateful rhetoric, fear, infringements of rights, war, skewed priorities
and so many other things that feel so heavy.
Maybe it’s the fact that baby girl #2 is making her presence more
obvious, maybe it’s that a certain two-year-old is completely enchanted with
the idea of Christmas this year, maybe it’s just the feeling of pulling all of
the Christmas stuff out of the attic, or maybe it’s the combination of all of
it, but I am feeling Christmas this year.
The wonder of Christmas is raging in my
house. Our house is completely taken
over with Christmas decorations from nativities to a real tree to an Advent
wreath to a felt tree to a passed-down village to a cheesy, inflatable polar
bear. Amelia is at the age where it all
feels new, magical, and marvelous. It’s
easy to see the magic when it’s reflected in her. Ultimately, that wonder is infectious.
Through Christmas, we get to glimpse the
love of God is an astounding way; through a refugee baby. “And that is the wonder of all wonders, that
God loves the lowly…God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and
performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost,
the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.” This quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in God
is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas, articulates another
reason why Advent is so important this year.
There are so many who are justifiably afraid
right now. There are so many hurting, so
many questioning, so many who have been betrayed by those they trusted. Everyone out there needs hope, needs peace,
needs joy, needs love. We can help. We can be safe. We can be supportive. We can fight to improve life, in all of its
stages, for all people, even after birth. We can acknowledge and work through
our prejudices. We can live and be love,
in a million different little and not-so-little ways. After all, love really is all around.
At the very least, we could always
follow in Buddy the Elf’s footsteps and spread Christmas cheer by singing loud
for all to hear. Ok, I’m off to make
gingerbread houses and eat cookie dough and go ice-skating and maybe even hold
hands…
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