Advent

Advent: a coming into place, view, or being; arrival. 

I love the season of advent, the season where Jesus comes into place and into view, where the New Covenant comes into being.  When I was young, our family had a daily advent wreath that we lit each night at dinner when we prayed.  We also had a huge advent banner that we hung on the living room wall, adding one piece each week to the picture of Joseph leading Mary into Bethlehem on the donkey.  On Christmas Eve, we placed a star above the little scene of Bethlehem.  This was our favorite part, and every year we fought over who got to put the star on.  I loved the flickering lights of the advent wreath, lit up in a cold Michigan winter.  I loved the prayers we said as we watched for the coming of the King.  I loved placing those felt figures on the wall banner, watching Bethlehem come into view, and then that final star.  

I miss those things now.  I miss that daily reminder that we are preparing our hearts for the coming of the King. I miss the candles and the gradual build up to Christmas, not to shopping and gifts and parties, but to celebrating Christ's birth.  I've bought my own advent candles in some recent years, and lit them in the morning or if I was at home for dinner, but it's not the same as gathering around the table and quieting our hearts together.  


And I know that advent lies more in our hearts than in wreaths or candles or banners.  Advent is more a season of the heart than a season of traditions or rituals, but for me, many times those traditions help me focus my heart.  I'm not quite sure how I'm going to celebrate advent this year, in a place where the fan I keep running constantly would blow out the candles (and it's hard to find the right type of candles in the right colors, even in the States!), where I haven't got a banner or even a calendar of chocolates (I did win one in a white elephant exchange on Thursday, but it got taken from me) to help me stay focused.  I know that for me advent will include, as always, a close examination of the events surrounding Jesus' birth, and of the prophesies that foretold it.  I know that it will include a thousand and one playings of O Come, O Come Emmanuel and some good heart reflection.  But I'd like to find something else to help me in this pursuit, this meditation on the coming into place, view, or being, on the arrival of the King of kings.  


O Come O Come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Isreal
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears

Rejoice!  Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee
O Isreal