In case you missed my post last week, please know that you have my permission to decorate for Christmas.
I know that you were waiting for that.
Or if not my permission, at least my blessing.
Wait, you didn’t need either of those?
So much for my ambition of being an influencer!
I guess the truth of the matter is that (apologies in advance of this next phrase) Decorators gonna decorate.
So let’s talk about another aspect of the season: Advent.
There was not, in the small country Baptist churches of my upbringing, much talk of Advent.
It was all about Christmas.
I was an adult before I knew anything about Advent—the season of waiting and expectation in the Christian liturgical calendar leading up to Christmas.
We didn’t do things like Advent or Lent or anything that seemed measured, slow-paced, or reflective because we had stuff to celebrate. We weren’t thinkers, we were doers!
Ain’t nobody got time for that high church, snooty stuff!
Could it be that we were just impatient?
To be clear, I’m not bitter about my religious heritage.
I’ve just recognized that God’s family is much bigger and broader than my own experience and I’ve grown to appreciate expressions that are outside my own tradition and experience.
And I’ve learned that much of the joy in life’s adventure is found in the journey itself—including the slow downs, detours, and blind curves—as it is in the destination.
How we travel—the getting there—can be as meaningful as the arrival.
Which brings me back to Advent.
This is a season of deliberate waiting in anticipation of what is to come.
I picked up an Advent devotional book that I started on December 1 and will finish on December 25. “The Songs Tell the Story” by Janet Denison takes a brief look at the story behind 25 familiar Christmas songs.
Today’s song is “Silent Night,” possibly the most beloved Christmas song of all time.
Janet writes,
“Twenty-first -century Christmases are anything but silent or still. It’s a busy, hectic, joyfully noisy season. We can easily become overwhelmed with family, friends, and fun—and making sure it’s well-documented on social media.
But celebrating Christmas wasn’t always that way. Depending on your age, you might remember when people would decorate their Christmas trees on Christmas Eve and take them down on New Year’s Day. Or when Christmas was celebrated with the family and friends who lived nearby because travel wasn’t possible or feasible.
We have added so much to our Christmas celebrations today that it might not be easy to remember how it was for Mary. But we have songs like “Silent Night” to help us imagine what that first Christmas could have been like.”
Here’s what I’m wondering today: could it be possible for us to deliberately incorporate silence, reflection, and a slower pace into our preparation for Christmas? If so, how?
Something to think about.
Be amazing today, my friend.
