Advent: The Prophecy

this time of year is so rich with tradition & memories for me. there's a deeper meaning in it than all the commercialism & retail hype. i truly feel so peaceful & reflective.

i remember growing up & going to midweek Advent services on Wednesday evenings. potluck dinners & fellowship and then a short service followed, preparing us, week by week, for the celebration to come. the church was rarely packed. in fact, it was usually very quiet & cozy. the perfect setting for reflection & self preparation.

i also remember the first time we'd walk into the church at the start of Advent to see the familiar Advent wreath set up at the front, one candle flickering. it was that feeling of anticipation. Christmas wasn't one day for me. it was a whole month, weeks of building up the excitement.

i thought that maybe in my own personal reflection & recollection, i would bring a little bit of it here, even though for me it is a very personal time of thought & remembering. my idea was to share the weeks of Advent--the meaning of each week's candle, a few of my own thoughts on each week's focus, a Christmas carol that holds special meaning for me, a quick passage. just my own personal preparation for the coming of Christmas that you can feel free to share or skip over, whichever suits you. i should have started this a week ago but i can catch us up by doing an extra post this coming Sunday & then each Wednesday between now & Christmas...i expect that my thoughts will be respected, as will any comments or thoughts anyone feels the need to share. i'm comfortable in my religious upbringing & i know that not everyone was raised with the same beliefs i have. maybe you'll just learn some interesting facts about the history of Christmas, maybe you'll teach me something i didn't know.

An advent wreath is a ring or set of four candles, usually made with evergreen cuttings. Many churches illuminate these candles in succession through the four weeks leading up to Christmas as part of their Sunday services for Advent. Some wreaths have a larger, central fifth candle (generally white), which is lit on Christmas Day to signify Christ's birth. The wreath is meant to represent God's eternity. The violet candles symbolize faithful expectation, and the rose candle joy and hope.

The first candle is often called the prophet's candle, and is meant to signify the hope of Jesus' arrival.

HOPE: that feeling of certainty, expectation, the belief that good *will* come. if you have had any exposure to Christianity, you are probably aware that the Bible is broken into 2 parts: the Old Testament--the prophecies, the promises made; and the New Testament--the fulfillment, the promises kept. people waited & hoped...and their hopes were one day realized. we all hope for things. we all wait. sometimes it's hard to trust that what we're waiting for will ever arrive...but when we have hope, we have something to keep us believing that the wait is worthwhile.

i always liked the hymn "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". if you've read my blog enough, you know that i am drawn to song lyrics, but this song has one of the the most beautifully haunting melodies. it actually sounds like the song is holding its breath in anticipation. waiting. watching. hoping.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Isreal!

But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor
with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give
him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will
reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the
Son of God...."
Luke 1: 30-35

i just love this Christmasy time of year. i can't help it. so many of my happy memories are centered around it. so many good feelings. when you're raised in a Christian home, you're taught that Christmas isn't just about Santa Claus & mistletoe & presents under the tree. you learn to emphasize a deeper meaning to the festivities. but i don't think we always really understand it. sometimes it takes a long time living inside us to before we really start to grasp it. i know that even though i've known the "meaning of Christmas" my whole entire life, it's only been in very recent years that i felt it in my soul, that peace amid all the hustle & rushing, that stillness that comes with that sort of peace. i said it back around Easter that my religious beliefs are *so* personal to me. they are something i hesitate to share very often because when something is that personal to you, you don't want others to reject it or to roll their eyes at you--even if they don't believe the same things you do, you want others to see it as valuable, to accept it as a deeply integral part of who you are. even now i hesitate to share these glimpses into my very most personal side, to open myself up this wide on such a vulnerable level...but i hear that passage from Luke & it just gets me all wound up, excited, anticipating the joy i feel as Christmas gets closer & closer.

i hope every single one of you finds some sort of joy this holiday season, whatever you celebrate, whatever you believe. i hope your dreams & wishes come true and that you find peace & happiness.