A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I was feeling especially jolly for some reason; and I said to my coworkers, “I’m in the holiday spirit!” My swell of excitement made my mind jump ahead to Christmas parties, gifts, trees and lights. I felt ready in the moment, but quickly caught myself and remembered the delights of fall, Thanksgiving, and … ADVENT.
No, I wasn’t ready for Christmas yet. My heart and spiritual life need a check, a refresher, time to prepare before Christ comes so humbly and triumphantly into the world and my life – before the burst of celebration floods what seems like everything.
The Church, in her wisdom, gives us this time in Advent. I wish to take advantage of every moment of this season to prepare for the coming of Jesus. The purpose of Advent is twofold: to prepare our hearts for Christ entering the world as a baby, and to prepare for Christ’s second coming and our own deaths. That’s quite a lot to do in just a few weeks. Instead of doing what I may be tempted to do—stay up day and night, spending hours in prayer, a thousand pages of spiritual reading, fasting every day—l will pray about how I can prepare and grow closer to the Lord during this time.
First of all, I recommit to surrendering to God and doing His will every moment. I want to live with a different spirit, one of joyful anticipation of what is to come, in the Christmas season and in eternal life. How I react to and experience ordinary things of life can help with this. As I reach for my phone to check Facebook, I can stop and say a prayer instead. I don’t have to bake cookies every day, but use that anticipation to point me toward Christ. (I’ll save daily cookies for the twelve days of Christmas.) I can hold off on some of my Christmas decorations until the actual day, and I can make a point to listen to some music written specifically for Advent. Prayer can be dedicated to Advent themes as well, as can conversation with my family.
I think Advent can be experienced and executed in many different ways; it isn’t spelled out for us as strictly as Lent, for example. I believe it is about focusing our attention on preparation and letting the Lord work through our anticipation. But this can only be done through having anticipation, and our actions can move us in this direction. A question worth exploring is, “What can we do to make Advent different than other times of the year?” Different will lead to beautiful on the night of December 24. Let’s embrace Advent and truly make the most of it.