Debunking Christmas: Part 2

ADVENT:

So much of what Christmas is truly about is wrapped up in this Latin word meaning "the coming."

If the years of your childhood are anything like mine then your first recollection of advent would be the first advent calender your parents gave you where you had 24 chocolates waiting oh-so patiently behind perferated paper flaps. Again, if you were anything like me, you tossed aside all logic of waiting 24 whole days to eat all the chocolates (instead you followed the rule of one-per-day for maybe a week tops and then decided to consume the whole lot of them in one sitting--usually hiding in your bedroom so mom or dad wouldn't catch you.)

Is this advent I ask you? Has Willy Wonka and his darn chocolate factory overthrown another holiday for the sake of consuming more chocolate? I certainly hope not...

Millions of churches embark on a four week journey of Advent in the month of December. Advent holds a special place in my heart: it was under a GIANT Christmas Tree back in 1996, on the 1st Sunday in Advent when I got baptized. But advent is still more than this. In today's culture the 4 weeks that precede Christmas mean extended holiday shopping hours at our local malls. But advent is certainly still more than this. Advent was originally meant to be a time when Christians reflected on the meaning of Christmas: four weeks set aside to contemplate what the coming of Jesus meant not only to the world but to every individual's soul. Advent was also supposed to be a time of personal retrospection and growth. (Sadly much of the growth we see in the advent season is our bellies from consuming too many Christmas sweets & our credit card statements as we spend spend spend...) Certainly advent means more than this.

Can we take a step back and look in a mirror and ask ourselves, "am I honestly contemplating the meaning of Christmas?...and what does it mean to me?"

Or do I simply go through the mechanical motions of going to Christmas Eve Church Services, and every now and then saying "Merry Christmas" without even thinking of what those words truly signify? My buddy's wife has started something on her blog that I think really captures the essense of what Advent is about. You'll have to scroll back a bit to read the previous postings... but it's encouraging to see someone grasp the concept of Advent.

I think that many of us evangelical Christians need to re-think how we approach the Christmas season: advent is still fulfilling its intended purpose, but are we (each of us as inividuals) taking time to reflect on what it meant for a baby to be born from a virgin in a manger 2000 years ago. It's not the Jesus that many of us think about: a baby that cried, filled his diaper with...um...er...deposits, and who was completely reliant on his mommy and daddy. But our Saviour came into this world, through a miraculous story, and I think that maybe we need to hit the pause button on our lives and reflect, ponder,contemplate, consider, mull over where our hearts our at, and what significance--if any--does Jesus have in our lives today. I'm not assuming that everyone who reads this blog believes in Jesus, but maybe....just maybe this Christmas you'll catch a glimpse of the miracle of Jesus' birth and come to see the real reason for the season.

Blessings to you all,

Ty