Advent is a time of fasting. Advent is a season to reflect on receiving God's gift of reconciliation through Jesus and preparing to give Him a gift from us as well. This week, we will look at ways we can make (and keep) room for Jesus in our Advent schedules. Every year, despite our best intentions, our calendars fill up in the Advent season until we are rushing around too much to be full participants in Advent. Yet, many of our activities are secular instead of sacred, as we chase after the nostalgia of past Christmases.
Advent is a season that starts 4 Sundays before Christmas. What would our Advent be like if we refrained from rushing from celebration to celebration? What if we kept the celebrations for the 12 days of Christmas and we more intentional about our season of waiting and watching? This year (2021), Advent starts November 28th and runs through December 24th.
Many of us are tempted to fill empty spaces on our calendars, so why don't we pencil in the Advent activities that center around the Christ Child? Before we overcrowd our schedules with things unrelated to Jesus' birth, we can instead reserve space for Him in our calendars and our lives. So let us schedule time for the Advent devotional and the Christmas Eve service. Let us set aside time for contemplating what we can learn about Christ in Advent and reserve time for listening to Advent songs. Let us challenge ourselves to differentiate between Advent and Christmas songs, and choose to listen to them in their proper season.
One of my new favorite Advent traditions is the burning of a Danish Christmas Candle. It has 24 marks on it, meant to be burned an hour each day leading up to Christmas. It is a daily time of stillness and pausing as the candle needs to be lit for a continuous hour to properly burn down. It encourages me to minimize my travel and trips, because it shouldn't be burned in hotel rooms or borrowed spaces. While the candle is burning, it's a good time to wrap up in a blanket, drinking a hot cup of tea, and listen to Advent songs. By burning this candle throughout Advent, I find myself making room and preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
How can we make room for the Christ Child this Advent season?
No comments:
Post a Comment