Advent Announcement!

Holiday shopping season is already underway, and we are just a few days away from the very first Sunday of Advent. In my world that means hanging greens at the church, assigning the Advent candle-lighting to children and adults, rehearsing for Christmas pageants, and planning candlelit Christmas Eve services.

Advent is supposed to be a season of fevered anticipation, and it often is - just not in anticipation of the right thing. Pastors tend to be a little snobby around the season of Advent, complaining that Christmas is coming too early, that Christmas Carols must be rationed for Christmas Eve and the one singular Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s, and lamenting the ways that Christ has been removed from Christmas.

I have found over the years that the month of November is really my Advent - my quiet time of contemplation and anticipation of the coming of Christ. No one is forcing holiday treats on me, I never go to the mall, and no children are adding things to their Christmas wish lists just yet.

 

But now the real Advent is almost upon us. This year I want to try an experiment, creating a virtual Advent Calendar to help us all get through the season a little more slowly, or at least a little more intentionally. Each day of Advent I will share something on the blog. Some days it will be a personal reflection on the ideas and themes surrounding Advent and Christmas that are important to me as a pastor and a mother. Some days I will share reflections that I have written in Advents past - sometimes adaptations of sermons I have preached. Some days I will share poems and reflections on Advent and Christmas themes from some of my favorite authors. Some days I will share prayers that I have found especially helpful during the season of Advent.

I warn all Advent purists that Christ will come every so often in the things that I share. Not everything will be strictly geared toward the Advent season, but I think it is helpful to reflect on what we anticipate so that we might be better prepared.

I will share each day’s post on the Facebook page for the blog, and will post on my personal Twitter. If you want to be sure to follow intentionally throughout the entire season, I would suggest that you sign up to receive the RSS feed or an email version of the blog each day. Links to all of these methods are at the top left sidebar.

I look forward to taking this journey together.