A Word for Advent

November 2015

To all the Saints of St. Paul’s,

Grace to you all, and peace!

Advent and Christmas have always had a special place in my heart, long before I became a Christian. As a two-year-old, I didn’t know the anguish it caused my Jewish parents when I asked for a Christmas tree. Christmas being a part of American culture must have eventually worn them down, as we received presents and stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

It was not until much later, however, that this time of year cemented itself into my very being. It was Christmas break of my senior year in college. A friend had recommended a book to me the year before, and like so many books, it sat, unread on a shelf. But now I had a few weeks without any school responsibilities, so a dictionary-sized book didn’t feel like just one more assignment. The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton by Michael Mott is a biography about a man who wrote a famous 20^th century autobiography, Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain. This biography told the story of a young man whose small shoots of faith grew into the kind of vine that eventually connected him to God in a variety of profound ways. Most importantly for me, it spoke of someone whose less than saintly life was not enough to keep God from gifting him in a deep and intimate relationship.

I began the book in the midst of a season whose name, Advent, I wouldn’t know for years. And it was not until just after Christmas, December 26^th, St. Stephen’s Day as it turns out, that the years of small shoots of faith growing in me took root in a life-changing way. I was different after that day, in a way I wouldn’t be able to explain or describe for quite some time.

The elements of Advent that carried me into that sacred space those long years ago have continued to shape me. The early darkness associated with late December, the contemplative spirit that feels like a road less traveled when set against “Ho, ho, ho!” and singing elves and snowmen. The call to watch and wait that stands in such contrast to our “want more, do more” culture this time of year.

We all come with our own history and our own stories. The things that are important to us and those that changed us.

My prayer for you is this: that Advent and Christmas will not only be a time to reflect on what was, but to reflect the light of the One Who Is, Who Was, and Who Is to Come. By grace, we become lights shining in a world of darkness, reflecting God’s own Marvelous Light.