HAPPY ADVENT!
With the aroma of the Thanksgiving turkey still lingering in the air, we turn on the TV and the Christmas carols are already playing, beckoning us to celebrate Christmas… So — where does ADVENT come into the picture? And why do we need it?
I guess it depends on what we want to celebrate at Christmastime.
If we spend all our time getting caught up in the trappings of December — getting the cards out, the gifts bought and wrapped, the cookies baked and everything on the “to-do” list completed — it is easy to become exhausted before Dec. 25 even arrives. Have you ever heard anyone say “I cannot WAIT for this season to be OVER!”???
The only way to avoid that feeling is to be INTENTIONAL about recognizing the gift that Advent offers — by claiming time in our busy schedules to prepare our HEARTS AND MINDS — as effectively as we prepare our homes.
HOW do we do that?
Some enjoy a daily reading (click here for UCC daily devotions)
Some take a few minutes each day to light a candle and reflect on the Advent word of the week (hope, love, joy, peace.... or whatever word your spirit needs to reflect upon)
Some volunteer —reaching out to folks in need in a more intentional way
Some set aside daily time for prayerful journaling, maybe considering a question such as “What is God nudging me to do/be right now?”
Whatever practice you choose, it is your interior work that honors the re-birth of Jesus within you — and brings “Emmanuel” (God with us) to life at Christmastime, 2021.
An anthem (click here to listen) that the choir has grown to love says it well...
“ Thou Shalt know him when he comes
Not by any din of drums
Nor by the manner of his airs
Or by anything he wears
Not by his crown or his gown
But his coming, known shall be
By the holy harmony his coming
makes in thee...”
Wishing you all the discovery of HOLY HARMONY within yourself this Advent!