Advent

On the radio the other day, I heard a man talking about the coming of Christmas, and what it ought to mean to us. His message, at its heart, said that we've been going about this whole Christmas-is-coming thing the wrong way, which is something I've believed for a long time. While I applaud the extra cheer that many folks seem to muster up, I'm not a fan of the general frenzy that is most of December. The Christian season of Advent, he pointed out, has never been about sugar and presents and decorations, or even about families getting together. Advent is about expectation and hope, and longing.

So rather than asking you what you want for Christmas, let me ask you this: what do you long for? It may be reconciliation, or a child, or a vocation. It may be a resolution to a tangled problem in your life. What space is there in your soul that cannot be filled with anything wrapped up under a tree?

I cannot guarantee that longing will be fulfilled on Christmas morning. I can almost guarantee that it won't. So life, like Advent, is bittersweet. We are all of us walking around with holes in our hearts.

I don't have any objection to Christmas cheer. But I think it would be so nice if we took the cup of kindness with us past the New Year celebration.