Advent Chuckles

The sights of Advent sometimes delight me and sometimes make me chuckle. The lights, the liturgy, and the music remind me that this is a spiritual season.

The inflatable yard displays, silly holiday movies, and frantic shopping malls remind me that we intermingle this season with our longings to connect and have fun. We are human after all.

I had to chuckle out loud when I drove through my neighborhood and spotted a yard display that boasted an inflatable nativity scene next to a cast of merry minions.

I had to smile quietly to myself as my family held hands in our favorite Mexican restaurant and offered prayers of gratitude over our enchiladas and margaritas.

Merriment is on display all around. Holy and fun moments exist side by side in this season and offer us a glimpse at the Word made flesh.

In this season, we are permitted to embrace the human side of Christmas. Christ comes to us in physical form and becomes for us God’s active power in the world. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

We are permitted to learn from the things that hold our attention, bring us joy, or make us cry. We dwell in these places, and they have lessons to teach us. Maybe the lesson is that God’s incarnation is ultimate love coming to dwell with us in everything. Perhaps it is to learn that God’s love is limitless. Maybe it is to learn that it is okay to intermingle our humanness with our holiness.

Christ came to show us what it means to be made in the image of God. The true coming of Christ is the coming of Christ into our lives as the universal Christ who has existed with God from the beginning. It is the coming of Christ not to construct a religion with limitations but to build a life of love in all of its fullness.

If merry minions next to an inflatable nativity make you chuckle, then chuckle in love. If offering a blessing with family and friends over enchiladas and margaritas makes you grateful, then offer the prayer every time.

Christ comes to us wholly human and wholly divine, and gives us permission to live, to laugh, and to love.

Anticipation and Accomplishment

I am sitting in the chair that my family has named my “prayer chair,” on the Saturday morning before the third Sunday of Advent, and my mind is filled with thoughts of how quickly we are heading toward the celebration of Christmas day. I am reflecting on what this season has brought so far.

Through the days of late November and December, I have bounced between anticipation of an event or a task and the accomplishment of that event or task. The ebb and flow of working towards a goal and fulfilling that goal have been my rhythm.

In these days of Advent, I prepared for singing after experiencing some vocal fatigue, and then breathed a sigh of relief after getting through the solo. I have worked with children through the excitement of presenting a Christmas concert and have arrived at the moment of performance. I have purchased gifts that sit ready for wrapping. My almost daughter-in-law, who has studied and worked so diligently towards her goal of becoming a nurse, graduated with her BSN this week. (I am so proud of her!) Together, my family and I have celebrated birthdays and prayed with friends who are dealing with health issues in hopes of healing and wholeness.

Advent has been a series of anticipations and accomplishments. Each event or task has brought with it the work of preparation followed by the outcome.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, knew all too well the feeling of anticipation and accomplishment. Her expressions of anticipation are written for us in Luke 1: 46 – 55, in the passage we know as Mary’s Magnificat – her canticle of praise.

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham

and to his descendants forever."

Mary not only anticipated the birth of the baby that she was carrying, but she also looked toward what would be fulfilled through his coming. He would scatter the proud, bring down the powerful, and send the rich away empty. He would lift up the lowly, fill the hungry, and help his servant.

The cycle of anticipation and accomplishment that Mary experienced continues in our day. We walk through Advent with quiet prayers that Christ will continue to scatter the proud and fill the hungry – not just fill them but fill them with good things.

We live in this cycle because we know that Christ dwells in it with us. Christ comes to fullness in us when we surrender to his presence, and he fills us with good things. It is only when we do this that we can love and live in the ways of Christ.

Mountains and Valleys

I have to admit that I am not much of a traveler. I do love a good adventure and experiencing new things, but it is the process of getting there that trips me up.

Put me in a car – particularly on the passenger side, and I am happy. It’s boarding one of those big jets and taking off into the skies that gets my pulse racing and my prayers flowing.

Despite my flight anxiety, my husband and I decided this was the year to take a big trip. There are many places on our travel bucket list that we are longing to see, so this past summer we decided to check one off of our list.

Northern California with its beautiful coastline and enchanting wineries was one of the places we wanted to experience. We made plans to travel there with some good friends and headed out on our adventure.

Even with my flight fear, I tend to enjoy looking out the window at the landscape below. This being my first flight across the country, I was excited to catch a glimpse of the Rocky Mountains and the desert all in one flight. They did not disappoint. There were snow-capped mountains out my window one hour and the next hour the flat sandy desert appeared. It was beautiful to see these formations from above.

I am reflecting on the flights we took to and from California as we arrive on this second Sunday of Advent. It was the first time that I experienced deserts, valleys, and mountains all within a period of a few short hours.

Isaiah 40:3-5 says, “A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together…’”(Isaiah 40:3-5)

Advent arrives and says to us, here is your God! Wake up and see that God has come to you. God has come to make the rough places smooth, to reveal the glory of God, to feed the flocks, to carry the lambs, to lead the sheep, and to offer comfort for our weary souls.

Then the instructions come; to climb to the highest mountain and proclaim this good news - to do as the old song says, “Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills, and everywhere.” We are to declare that despite our failures and shortcomings, God has bent down to hold us and bring us comfort.

What is your Advent proclamation? And what mountains will you climb to proclaim it?