Advent (re-visited)

On December 10, 2012 I posted the following comments.

During the Advent Season, many church attendees are confronted with the idea that Christmas is more than a single day holiday celebration: like Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day  to name a few, and more than an extended buffet of shopping excursions into the commercial establishments screaming, "stuff, stuff, stuff your home with our stuff".  Instead these attendants to Christian Church worship services are encouraged to anticipate, to actually expect the coming of the Christ Mass, the celebration of incarnation. Thus in one fashion or another a local congregation accentuates the regularly scheduled worship with something more, the Advent reading and Advent candle lighting.

The most popular quad-diurnal theme focuses on Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.  However, the website faithandworship.com provides an additional fourteen possible combinations. I remember vaguely from my childhood three from a fourplex of Prophets, Angels, and Shepherds. The churchofengland.org website states that the Four Last Things, Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell are traditional themes. What to make of the variety?  That is the real questions.

Does the celebration of advent and the selected themes speak to our human condition? Does the selection from the CoE speak about the focus of our celebration differently from the selection of Hope-Love?  I would say that the choice does speak about our human condition, but even more it speaks about our human focus.

Take for example the popular Hope-Love advent topics.  Are these something we possess already or something we look to receive at this time of year?  Is our focus on receiving from God?  Then shift to those from my memory, Prophets-Shepherds.  These represent those who proclaimed the coming of the messiah.  Does our selection reflect an emphasis on proclamation?

Symbolism is powerful. It not only reflects our thinking, it in turn shapes our thinking.  Be careful what you wish for, you may actually receive the same!

What does it take for you to prepare to celebrate the Incarnation? 2016 has been an unseasonably warmer fall. The frost on the pumpkins didn't come until well past October 31st and tomatoes were still putting on fresh fruit into November. Is cold weather a requirement for your mental preparation for Christmas? Must you wait until at least one week past Thanksgiving? The first Sunday of Advent falls only 3 days past Thanksgiving in 2016. How will you celebrate this sentimental season this year? More importantly, how will you live this season with expectations for God of Creation to be with you?