"Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus; the period immediately before Christmas."
One thing I always miss around this time of year are the traditions we shared as a family while my siblings and I were still living at home. Many of those traditions continue, but they're different now that a few of us have moved away. I especially miss these traditions during the Christmas season, when the sheer busyness of the weeks preceding December 25th make it feel close to impossible to slow down. To breathe. To reflect. To enjoy. To prepare.
Years ago, when my siblings and I were much younger and all living at home, we kept two calendars in our kitchen to help us herald the Christmas holiday. The calendars were made of felt, and included 25 different Velcro objects to be attached to a nativity scene on the calendar. These calendars were a BIG DEAL. Especially because the 25th object in one calendar was a star to place over the nativity scene. And, the 25th object in the second calendar was ... a Velcro Baby Jesus.
We took turns putting the objects on the calendar. It was the most democratic system. Oh, reader, imagine for a moment the eagerness of descending into the kitchen and realizing it was your turn to add to the Velcro ensemble. It was, well, just magical. Of course, we all wanted to help put the objects on the calendar, but what we really wanted was to put the Baby Jesus on the calendar. Siblings would start giving up turns left and right ("Who me? Oh, I'll just skip this week and give all my objects to you"). The spirit of generosity took on a whole new meaning when it came down to the last week of the calendar. Siblings feigned apathy ("Oh, I'm not interested in helping with the calendar any more"), and alliances formed ("Take my turn today, and then we can both put up the Baby Jesus tomorrow!").
To be honest, I can't recall who ended up adding the Velcro Baby Jesus and the star. I do, however, remember the feelings of anticipation created by the calendar. We could not wait for December 25th! We could not wait for the Velcro Baby Jesus! We could not wait for the calendar to be finished! We could not wait for everything to be complete! Everything would be ready!
What if we still lived with that childlike anticipation? What if we could not wait for the Word who became flesh? What if we could not wait for the celebration of his birth? What if the countdown to Christmas caused us to reflect on his future coming, when everything would be complete, when all manner of things would be ready...
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."
-Julian of Norwich
2 comments:
We had the whole calendar thing going too :) Lovely post!
emily------------thanks for writing! maybe we'll see each other on campus sometime!
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