There have always been these mysterious things called Advent Calendars that I have seen and heard about around Christmastime, but I have never experienced one. I have heard the term ‘Advent’ plenty of times in religious settings, but it was never introduced to me in church. Maybe it was taught the day I missed school or while I was writing notes in church to my friends. Whatever the case, I started this Advent season completely clueless. My natural tendency to be attracted to all things spiritual, romantic, magical, and chocolate leads me on this adventure to discover whatever this Advent ritual is truly about.
The basics go like this… Advent begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus and means “coming”. It is often celebrated with an Advent Calendar counting down the days until Christmas. Some calendars reflect a 24 day countdown while others count down the 12 days of Christmas. Each day revealing a surprise gift. I am going to find a 12 day calendar with chocolate surprises asap!
For Catholics, the first Sunday of Advent marks the new year of the Biblical calendar. Another analogy I’ve heard is that Advent is the celebratory preparation for Christ’s birth in contrast to Lent which is the repentant time leading up to Christ’s death and resurrection. There are numerous details that I have discovered about how different religious groups celebrate Advent, it’s very interesting and too much to include in this post.
As a Christian, how should I participate in the Advent season? ‘Should’ is a strong word, maybe too strong. My personal understanding of Advent is that it is a time of remembering everything that prepared the world for the coming of Jesus the Messiah, God in human form dwelling among us. It is also a time to remind myself to continually prepare my heart as a welcome space for the Holy Spirit to reside. And it is a time to actively be preparing for the day I will meet my Creator face to face. My intention is to make Advent one of my spiritual disciplines every year. Putting on a mindset of being prepared. (Anything can happen when preparation intersects with opportunity.) Celebrate by giving gifts and blessing others. I am preparing for 2021. This year I’m participating in an Advent Holy Yoga series and I’m definitely going to do 12 days of chocolate! How (and why) are you celebrating?
There will be more to come on Advent later this month.
Here’s a link with a quick overview https://youtu.be/eC0FGQLBp7w
