Dear Friends,
The season of Advent is always four Sundays long – the four Sundays before Christmas. However, the season’s actual number of days varies depending on which day of the week Christmas falls. This year Advent began on December 1 – one of the shorter observances of the season. Maybe this is why I feel like I’m running out of time. When I dropped some items off this past Wednesday morning at the dry cleaners, the person at the counter asked, “Are you ready for Christmas?” I’m sure he asks every customer the same question, but it stopped me in my tracks. Well. . . . no, I’m not.
An article from a couple of years ago by Tish Harrison Warren had the title: “I’m Not Ready for Christmas. I Need to Take a Minute.” Ms. Warren wrote that she could not force herself to dive into all the festivities and holiday cheer that these December days so often demand of us. “I need a season to notice, reflect on and grieve what we collectively and I individually have walked through this year (and the past few years, really). I need to take stock of where I am and how I got here,” she says. So, she continued, she was particularly glad for the season of Advent – this precious time of spiritual preparation for Christmas.
I am, too. Aren’t you?
Tish Harrison Warren continued, “We recall that we require ransom and rescue. Another year has gone by and we still live in a world in need of mending. We have learned anew through these long years that a virus can suddenly change our lives, that our illusions of control and predictability are fragile and faulty, that lies are often mistaken as truth, that we cannot keep ourselves or those we love from pain, that the wreckage of poverty, injustice and darkness persist. This is the very world of heartbreak, Christians say each year, into which Christ came and will come again.” Christ came and will come again. In between, we wait and watch and hope.
I’m not ready for Christmas. I need a minute. But I will be better prepared if I set aside some time for reflection and prayer. I invite you to join me in preparing during these remaining Advent days, so that when we celebrate Christmas, our celebrations will be rich and full of joy.
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate