Advent in August

 

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?  Is it baking cookies, singing carols, or putting up decorations?  Is it a quiet moment when the words of Silent Night for a few fleeting moments feel true and trustworthy?  Is there a new tradition that can help open your mind/heart/soul to the mystery of God’s arrival in a barn, especially this year?  To be sure, I want to be careful not to ask or suggest you try to cram more into your life.  Perhaps a new tradition can replace one that has become less meaningful/where you are going through the motions but not feeling any swirling of the Sacred.  Why wait?  Okay, maybe if your favorite tradition is buying a fruitcake for everyone, you might not find those in abundance on the shelves today.  But you could probably find fruit and cake, so try that out.  Part of the invitation of Christmas is to awaken our shepherd-like curiosity to keep searching for Christ, who is also searching for us!  We pay attention to God, who is paying attention to you right now, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.  Do you feel a holy nudge in a certain direction or destination?  Maybe like the shepherds, you feel scared trying to go to a new place.  Or maybe you want to share God’s love in a new way, but, like the shepherds concerned about what others will think, you are holding back.  What tradition might stir within your heart, awakening you to the mystery and marvel of Christmas ~ even though the “actual” day is weeks/months away (“actual” because we don’t have Jesus’ birth certificate and we don’t know when he was born.  However, things can be true without happening exactly as I say.  There is a truth I cannot prove with evidence ~ things like love, hope, peace, and joy).  Today, practice Christmas.  Maybe you blare your stereo with music, make cookies for your neighbors, light a candle, or decorate a part of your house.  It doesn’t have to be splashy and spectacular.  Christ arrives quietly, barely noticed by anyone except a few shepherds.  You don’t have to inflate your 8-foot Santa Claus on your lawn, causing your neighbors to question you.  You can honor this day as holy and God-saturated because that is true of every day.  May you discover God in the most unexpected places and people this day.  Amen.