It doesn’t feel like Christmas is 26 days away. Nevertheless, with Halloween and now Thanksgiving in our rear-view mirrors we can officially prepare for Christmas.
We all know what this season holds…office parties, gift buying, gift wrapping, secret Santa gifts, more parties, traveling, schedule negotiation, and more gift wrapping. It is such a cliche, though the root of a cliche is reality, but Christmas is too easily a time for gifts, parties, and travel and not a time of preparation.
For the church, we call this the season of Advent. This is a Latin term, which means “the arrival of, anticipation of, or preparation for.”
As we prepare our hearts for the season of Advent and the celebration of Jesus’ birth, let us also prepare our souls to live in the way of Jesus together.
As Brian McLaren wrote, “Politicians compete for the highest offices. Business tycoons scramble for a bigger and bigger piece of the pie. Armies march and scientists study and philosophers philosophies and preachers preach and laborers sweat. But in that silent baby, lying in that humble manger, there pulses more potential power and wisdom and grace and aliveness than all the rest of us can imagine.”
May we enter this season as a time of contemplation. May we reflect, discern, and respond to the One calling us from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, from the manger to the cross and empty tomb.
Be sure to pick up a copy of the UBC Advent Daily Meditation on Sundays in the narthex or in the office during the week.
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