Note: My wife has told me that I completely misunderstood what was happening in this opening anecdote. She may be right, but the story is better when I tell it my way.
At mass this morning we celebrated the First Sunday of Advent. In our church there is a large Advent wreath suspended from a cable that is lowered before mass and then raised after the candle is lit. The incongruous electric sound of the motor immediately after we participate in the ancient rite of evergreen, candle, and flame always brings a bit of a chuckle, but unless it is raised, the wreath would be in the direct path of the ministers and others.
This morning, however, it appears that something went wrong. After a few feet, the motor jerked, and the wreath was left lower than usual. It was not completely in the way, but low enough that one could bump into it if not paying attention.
As I sighed at another failure of technology, it occurred to me that this conspicuous wreath was actually the best symbol of the season, and a good explanation of what I am trying to do with my blog this month.
Advent is a season of focused expectations. As the Church celebrates the waiting for the birth of the Christchild, it calls on us to explicitly celebrate that it isn't Christmas yet. Today is today, not tomorrow, and though I may long for tomorrow, I need to focus on this day that I have been given. Much of our lives (or at least my life) is spent pushing into the next thing, not focusing on the current things. I start the week looking forward to the next weekend, the school year looking forward to summer, December 1 looking forward to Christmas. Advent tries to get in the way of this living for tomorrow, if we let ourselves bump into it on the way to Christmas, we receive a gift of four weeks (well three and a half this year) that we too readily wish away.
This effort to pull oneself out of the race of time to focus on the now transcends Advent, and has relevance to those who don't celebrate. In a way it reminds me of Thoreau's explanation of the Walden experiment:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
I think this is what I'm trying to do here. This is not a Christmas blog (despite the title), rather it is a recording of days that are not Christmas, noticing the too often ignored, and trying to live in this non-existent time. Will I talk about Christmas? yes, I am not an Advent absolutist. However, each day I will try to focus on something of that day as a living document that I lived these days, and didn't yadda-yadda my way to Christmas.
The best analogy, which I used before when I did this, is that of the Advent Calendar. Each door opens with its own gift, and that's all one gets today. I look forward to bumping into Advent for the next 24 days. I hope I'll bump into you too.
As always, I welcome your comments, and suggestions for topics
Image: Advent Wreath in St Norbert's . Use with citation.
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Looking forward to these.
I am so guilty of this, looking ahead instead of worrying about now. I am going to try this, call it my “Advent Resolution” if you will. If it works I will come out a better person in many areas of my life!