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Advent Reflections
11/25/2009
By Hart, Robert
Santa Claus will arrive on Thanksgiving morning bringing up the rear of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade signalling the start of the holiday shopping season. In Church, three days later, the season of Advent will begin with hardly a hint of Christmas and certainly no mention of Santa. It's like living in parallel universes. Bright lights and cheery music fill the stores and spill out into the streets. Our churches meanwhile are adorned with purple or sarum blue and the music is far more solemn and reflective. "Home for the holidays" makes a stark contrast up against "Lo, he comes with clouds descending."
The difference between the American cultural experience of the pre-Christmas season and the Church's universal keeping of Advent has long been remarked upon. It's a tension that's hard to keep. Nonetheless I've increasingly felt over the years that the Spirit of Advent is a welcome antidote to the "holiday spirit." I try to live in Advent. There's a deeper magic abroad than that of Frosty the Snowman and Rudoph the Rednosed Reindeer.
We pray on the first Sunday of Advent, "Almighty God, give us grace that we cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility..." That claim that Jesus, the Christ, the eternal Word of God, came to us as one of us gives both our observance of Advent and the frantic world of holiday parties and shopping for gifts their real meaning. The holiday lights and the candles of the Advent wreath were born of the same source, the advent of the Light of the World. This is the deep magic of God, restoring the dignity of our human nature. The One who shared our humanity made it possible for us to share the divine life.
The beauty of Advent keeps us focused on God's presence in our world through the incarnate Son, Jesus. It also radiates outward and gives our secular celebrations a greater depth of meaning. May all the blessings of Advent be with you and yours as we approach the celebration of Christmas.
Faithfully,
Bob Hart, Interim Rector
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