Advent - Day 2

A large part of this journey for me this season is making peace with the world around me. I have a tendency to bottle up frustration with the state of my world. I harbor a lot of unrest sometimes when I think about how much fuss people make over things that seem to me so frivolous. The annual complaint about "the war on Christmas" is one of those things.

I have always loved Christmas. It brings warm fuzzy feelings to my heart and makes the beginning of the cold season much less sucky. My family has a myriad of traditions, mostly typical - baking cookies with my mom and sister, decorating the house together, attending the Christmas Eve service, opening just one gift on Christmas Eve (spoiler alert, it's pajamas!), visiting family, and all around goodness and cheer. I love buying presents, I love wrapping presents, I love planning for presents, I love watching people open presents, and I love getting presents (I don't care if I'm not supposed to say that, its true!). I have a good excuse to put peppermint in everything. If I want to wear a sweater every day for a month, no one will judge me. Christmas is wonderful.

Lots of people in my world have been saying for years that these are not the things Christmas is about.

I would like to humbly disagree.

Presents and snowmen and trees and snow and reindeer and family gatherings and cookies and singing; these are what Christmas is about, the Christmas that is a cultural holiday. Because Christmas stopped being about Christianity long before any of us was born. (1647, actually, according to the Puritans.)

Would you like to know what is about Jesus?

Advent.

Advent is something very different entirely. Advent is a season of darkness, waiting, expectation, and anticipation. Something peaceful and eager, looking forward to the coming of the Savior who changes everything. It is a season of wonder and joy, looking back on the grace God has shown us.

Advent is also wonderful.

Advent is not Christmas. Christmas is not Advent.

As Christians, we can have the blessing of intertwining our culture and our faith. Christmas came from Advent, centuries ago, and there are still overlaps. Advent doesn't celebrate Christ's birth until January, but there's no reason not read the story of his birth on our cultural Christmas. Advent is meant for remembering God's grace, and how better to appreciate the grace you have been shown than by spreading goodness and hospitality through caring for the poor and underprivileged in your neighborhood? Bring as much faith to Christmas as you want! Sing the Advent carols, put an angel on the tree, set out the nativity scene, reflect on Christ as God's gift to us as we gives gifts to each other, integrate your cultural experience with the richness of faith!

I'm not good at celebrating Advent, and part of this journey for peace is about getting better. I hope you find some time in the beautiful crazy of the Christmas season to rest and to expect. Reflect on the grace and the goodness of the year behind you - even in the darkest year there is something. Look forward to the celebration of the Messiah, and to another year to serve and to bless. Please, join me in searching for peace and joyful expectation these next weeks.


25 Days for Peace is a cooperative blogging experiment between myself and five other artists, designed to explore the facets of peace, particularly centered around this season intended to experience the peace of Christ. Visit this page to see the other contributions to this journey, and like it to join with us in exploring what peace means.