The days are shorter and there is a sense of panic in the air. Can all be done – decorate, shop, wrap, cook, clean, join others to celebrate…? But wait – what are these four weeks all about? A moment to consider – where is the focus – the means or the end?
May these reflections be enriching and received as a quiet gift.
(from http://www.explorefaith.org via BuildingFaith)
Wise and honest words from this moment… are our young people invited to ‘be here now’? One person’s thoughts – click here
Can I open my eyes yet? Is God here yet? Do we have to wait four weeks?Welcome to the season of Advent! In the midst of all of our efforts to be watchful and prepare for the coming of our Lord, many of us find ourselves stretched in so many directions; it is hard to know how to focus. This picture above speaks volumes to our dance between excitement and apparent stress!
Advent calls us to open our eyes. Look all around to see what we have and to understand what we need. The four weeks of waiting is to remember, reflect and refresh ourselves as we prepare for the celebration of God’s presence among us. When we open our eyes we see God’s presence in one another and all of creation.
And so we prepare — in the midst of our own apparent stress, we prepare for the delight of a child in our midst, in our hearts. To do this each of us needs a little time — to breathe deep and listen, to open our eyes and see. There is wonder in the quiet dark of winter. The four weeks of waiting, preparing, allows us the time to experience this wonder.
May we share this joy with all creation—as we celebrate God in our midst.
As the days shorten in length and we become more aware of the darkness that fills the hours, the Church prepares to celebrate the coming of the Lord, the Son of Righteousness and the Light of the world, into time and history. We celebrate not only his coming as the Babe in Bethlehem’s manger but also his coming as Judge at the Last Day.
In the early Church the season of Advent had this two-fold emphasis: joyful expectation and sober repentance. Both emphases generate a spirit of preparation – preparation for the holy celebration of the incarnation and preparation for the final revelation.
Many in the early Church considered Advent to be a period of joyful preparation for the birth of the King of kings. Since the feast of the nativity had replaced an older pagan feast, the feast of the Unconquered Sun, the early Church sought to make its feast glow with the power of the Son of God. It is natural that this preparatory period would be understood as a time of anticipation and joy.
For us today Advent is a time of expectancy and joy, tempered with a hearty sense of repentance. It is a time that is understood by many to be a miniature Lent. Our celebrations are to be tempered with the kind of expectancy that greets the birth of a child. A place must be prepared, expenditures pared, self-examinations made, and fears disclosed and allayed.
All this is done, however, in a spirit of joy, a confident belief that we are soon to pass out of the night of uncertainty into the day of new life and hope. Advent is a time in which we “cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” so that we may greet the coming kingdom of God with our hearts purged of all darkness and our faces turned toward God’s unconquered Son.
“Advent is both a beginning and an end, an alpha and an omega of the church’s year of grace. Too often considered merely a season of preparation for the annual commemoration of Christ’s birth, this rich and many-layered season is actually designed to prepare the Christian for the glorious possibilities of the parousia. It is a season of longing expectation “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). William G. Storey, “Days of the Lord”
I thank Sharon Pearson and her dedication to the website– Building Faith. If you have a chance, spend some time there. The resources are wonderful and she always offers something to feed the soul.
Oh, the wonder of this time of year. We set our hearts and minds toward the celebration of a ‘Promise’ that was born. God reminded us through the miracle of birth that the world was blessed and all were welcome to be a part of that blessing.
Advent is a time to prepare… but for what? These four weeks move at the speed of sound bites and flashing lights. I share this video to remind all of us – it is so simple and what we pay attention to, makes a difference throughout the world. Click here: ADVENT CONSPIRACY (thank you, Cathy Ode).
It is a great way to prepare for the season of ‘preparation’.
Carrie's Bench 
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