Category: advent

“Most of us habitually miss it every year at Christmas. Our story is consumption and consumerism, and we’re obsessed with the climax. We worship less. We spend more. We give less. We struggle more.”
-from Advent Conspiracy by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, and Greg Holder

I have great childhood memories of Christmas. It’s funny though, I remember only a few specific gifts. What I do remember is the excitement and anticipation. I remember how the time was special. We had special meals with extended family. We opened gifts together. I remember listening to Christmas music on the radio. Somewhere along the line of growing up, Christmas became a really crazy and busy time. I found it was too full of time commitments and there was not enough space to really contemplate anything, let alone the miracle and mystery of the Incarnation of Christ. And speaking of Christ, I also began to realize that the season ought to be shaped more by Jesus than by buying and receiving gifts, but that wasn’t true in my life. Was Christmas supposed to be a perpetual chasing of a nostalgic childhood joy while simultaneously fending off the shame of not fully recognizing the arrival of the Christ child? It’s exhausting.
Continue reading “A Call to Advent”