The Forgotten Season

Advent is the forgotten season.  Although the four weeks preceding Christmas are meant to be a period of waiting and preparation, our busy modern lifestyle often skips right over this season and we tend to lose sight of its significance.  Advent is rich in beautiful symbolism, heralding the beginning of the liturgical year with traditions that date back at least to the Middle Ages.  The Advent wreath, usually a circle of evergreen boughs, signifies unity and enduring life.  The three purple candles, the color associated with royalty, represent the Prince of Peace while the rose candle is a symbol of joy and is lit on the Third Sunday of Advent as we rejoice at the nearness of the Christmas celebration.  In some Churches, the celebrant also wears rose colored vestments at Mass on that Sunday.  Now that’s certainly something to look forward to!

The four weekly themes of Advent – HOPE, PEACE, JOY and LOVE – invite us to deeper reflection on their meaning.  Are they merely words or do we see them as guideposts for life?

It seems we live our lives in fast forward, always thinking, planning and jumping ahead without ever actually stopping to savour the present.  Our secular world perpetuates this accelerated pace and we, for the most part, buy into it hook, line and sinker.  In mid-July, the rush is on to gather all those back to school supplies so that our kids will have a good head start on the new school year.  When school finally re-opens, the store shelves are filled with pumpkins, candy and Halloween costumes.  By the time the trick or treaters come to our door, the malls are aglow with Christmas trees and trimmings while carols blare incessantly in every store.  The solemn marking of Remembrance Day often gets lost in the hurry to install Santa’s workshop in the center court.  Our ears, minds, and wallets are bombarded with Christmas commercialism long before the Christ Child’s birthday celebration comes along.

With hardly a moment to catch a breath between each well-advertised shopping season, is it any wonder that we have lost the fine art of anticipation?  We’ve become so good at putting the cart before the horse that we have somehow managed to deprive ourselves of the wonder of the journey!  I recall a simpler time when the world seemed less hectic than it does now.  Take Advent calendars for example:  once upon a time, they held little paper windows which you could fold back each day, and behind each window was a good deed which had to be fulfilled to help prepare yourself for the coming of Jesus.  Today’s version offers paper windows which open up to reveal chocolate and, of course, many children nowadays don’t know what it’s like to wait for anything so they often eat the whole supply of chocolate in one day.

We’ve been conditioned to reject waiting.  Why should we wait for anything anymore?  We live in a world of instant text messaging, instant information at our fingertips via the internet, smart phones, ipads, and live TV to keep us constantly in touch with breaking news updates complete with video streaming – heck, most of us don’t even read newspapers or magazines anymore because the printed message is obsolete by the time we get it.  So, why bother with Advent?  How could it possibly help us to prepare for and better appreciate the gift of Christmas?

Look at it this way.  A beautiful wedding celebration, for example, doesn’t just happen.  It usually involves quite a bit of preparation and planning before we all gather to celebrate that very special occasion. Christmas, too, takes up a great deal of our time as we prepare the house, select the perfect gifts for those on our list, choose a turkey or ham, put up the tree and decorations, etc.  Yet, sometimes the real meaning of the celebration gets lost in the hustle and bustle.  That’s where Advent can help us slow down and prepare our hearts for Christmas.

Most of us start the day with a cup of tea or coffee – if we turn off the morning news and spend a few minutes giving thanks for the new day while we enjoy that cup of java, it just might bring a different perspective to our lives.  Food Banks are especially in need of assistance at this time of the year – perhaps a financial donation or an offering of time to deliver food hampers or gifts might be something that you are able to do this year.  Maybe something as simple as a smile or a friendly greeting to a stranger could lighten that person’s load today.  Perhaps a brief time carved out of your busy day for quiet prayer or reflection is achievable at this stage of your life.  Never underestimate its power to change the way you look at things.

When the challenges of daily life weigh heavy on your shoulders, when you or someone you care about receives a dreaded diagnosis, when a friend is brought to her knees by too many burdens, when you are caught in the sandwich generation worrying about aging parents and growing kids, when you and your spouse seem to come from different planets, when your teenager races headlong down the wrong path, when a grown son or daughter struggles to find employment, even when the hurt is too deep for words,…. Take it to Him.

When a little child’s spontaneous smile brightens your day, when a friend gives you a just-because hug, when a song on the radio brings back happy memories, when your life has been blessed by the presence of a loving, loyal animal companion, when a single brave tulip peeps out through a mound of snow and finally announces an end to winter, when an adult offspring says, “I’m sorry I was such a pain in the *** when I was growing up”, …. Take it to Him.

So, the next time you find yourself in a panic because there are only “x” number of shopping days left until Christmas, STOP….., take a deep breath, and thank God for the greatest gift any of us will ever really need – the gift of love given to us at Christmas.  Enjoy your Advent!