A Good Dose of Advent

Gray Thursday.  Black Friday.  Small Business Saturday.  Cyber Monday.  The trifecta of shopping--plus one for good measure!  Note that Sunday doesn't make the cut--thank God!  But of course it didn't--I mean what's left?  Convenience Store Sunday?  Seven-Eleven Sunday (Oh thank Heaven! )  I'm all for commerce.  I enjoy a good Christmas gift as much as the next guy or gal.  But the hype has just gotten to be a bit too much!

So what are we to do about it?  The complaints that Christmas has gotten too commercialized are nothing new.  I'm sixty-one, and I don't remember a time when somebody didn't complain about shopping and such pushing aside the Christ child.  And as for Advent.  Well there's a lost cause for you if ever there was one!  Most folks probably think it's a new prescription medication.  Take two Advents and call me in the morning.  But beware, it can cause internal bleeding, drowsiness and in rare cases a prolonged sense of yearning. 

OK--now that I've gotten that out of my system, maybe I can focus on a serious word or two about this time of year, this holy season called Advent.  Every preacher worth his or her salt speaks of patience and watching and waiting in these weeks leading up to Christmas.  Yet this is so very counter-cultural!  We are not a patient people.  Just sit two seconds to long after the light turns green and you'll understand what I mean!  We want things now.  And as for watching and waiting.  Please!  We see so much in this visual age that we miss most everything in sight!

But such are the bywords of the season.  Watch.  Wait.  Be patient.  I hope (another good Advent word) that I can do just that.  Not because I am overly eager for presents and the other stuff of Christmas, but because I yearn for peace and joy and love.  Maybe a good dose of Advent is just what I need.