Advent

This is the first year I have celebrated the season of advent in my home.  I'll admit, until this past year, I never really understood the significance of the advent season or why I should celebrate it.  We had a children's Christmas production in my church a few years back that focused on Advent.  The production included a catchy song that ensured I would never forget what the four candles in the advent wreath stand for:  love, joy peace, and hope, but still the significance of the season was lost on me.

My attitude towards advent changed when I read a book several months ago entitled Celebrating the Christian Year by Martha Zimmerman.  To my surprise I discovered that the beginning of the advent season is actually the beginning of the Christian year.  That kind of makes sense, doesn't it?  We begin the Christian year by anticipating the birth of our Saviour.  I began to see that this is what advent is all about: preparing our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ.

December is a busy month in most households.  There is lots to be done: putting up the Christmas lights, decorating the house, putting up the Christmas tree, baking, and buying lots of presents.  We spend lots of time in our North American culture getting the house ready for Christmas, but how much time do we spend preparing our hearts and minds?

This year, for the first time, I decided to celebrate advent in my home.  I got some candles, and put together something that sort of resembles an advent wreath.  We have an advent calendar with a Scripture passage to read each day, something to pray for, and a chocolate to eat.  Each Sunday in advent we gather together to eat a meal and follow a little service, with reading, singing, and praying, as we light the advent candle.

Surprisingly, the thing that has impacted me most about this advent season is not the candles, or the singing, or the praying, but the empty manger scene.  Yes, I said the empty manger scene.  The empty manger scene sits on our living room mantle, and every day I see it and I am reminded that Jesus is coming.  The empty manger scene creates anticipation as we await the day, Christmas day, when the Saviour arrives on the scene.  It is also a reminder, admidst the hustle and bustle, that Christ is what Christmas is all about.  So, although I have spent less time shopping and decorating, I feel more prepared for Christmas than ever, and I have recaptured some of the anticipation I felt as a child that Christmas is coming.

Just Another Holiday

Another thanksgiving has come and gone, at least for us Canadians.  My first turkey seemed to be a success, and I supposed I participated in my share of over-indulgent eating.  I walked away with my belly full, but not quite feeling satisfied.  “Thanksgiving”.... the very name of the holiday gives us a pretty good indication of what the celebration is supposed to be about, but I can’t help but feel we’ve lost something over the years.

So, let’s go back to the pioneer days, and the celebration of that first Thanksgiving.  I think that most Americans know the story well, but for many Canadians the details of this story are not so familiar, and perhaps even unheard of.

On December 2, 1620, a group of about 100 pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, Massachusettes.  They had spent 66 days on a boat where amazingly only one of them died.  They were coming to the new world so that they would have religious freedom, and particularly, freedom to share their faith in God with the people around them.  They were not prepared for the frozen woodland that awaited them.  The winter was harsh, and the pilgrims were soon plagued with illness.  Not wanting their native neighbours to realize how much their numbers were dwindling, they buried their dead at night in unmarked graves.  The small group had dwindled in half by the end of that first winter.  

Despite the harsh winter this group persevered with hard work and faith in God.  They were able to plant and bring in a good harvest that first year.  In Holland, the country from which they had set sail, a Thank Day was celebrated once a year to remember their deliverance from the Spaniards.  In England, where this group was from originally, they had celebrated Harvest Home festivals.   These pilgrims decided to have their own three day celebration, combining the two festivals, to thank God for his faithfulness to them and for providing the harvest.  Not forgetting the reason they had come to this new country, they decided to invite their native neighbours.  To their surprise a chief showed up with 90 of his braves.  Sensing there was not enough food the chief sent out some hunters who came back with five deer.  Four or five women and two or three young girls prepared most of the meal.  They sat down to the first Thanksgiving feast.**

Although Thanksgiving is still celebrated today with a meal and the gathering of family and friends, I’m afraid it is more an excuse to indulge in the excess of what we have than to honor and glorify God.  Have we come to take for granted this beautiful country that we live in, the food we have on our table, and the freedom to worship God?

Here are some ideas for next year (or this year for Americans) to make Thanksgiving a little more than just eating Turkey and gathering with loved ones.  

        - Fast the evening before.  In the Old Testament fasting preceded all the Jewish feasts.  If you don’t want to fast, then      

           eat a bowl of plain rice for supper.  This is all many people around the world have to eat on a daily basis.  

        - Using a white board, or a large piece of paper taped to the wall, make a list of things you are thankful for.  Reflect   

           over the past year and remember the ways in which God has been faithful.  Do this throughout the day, and perhaps    

           even start the evening before when you are fasting or eating your rice supper.

        - Instead of making a list of things you are thankful for, you may wish to make a list of God’s attributes/characteristics.  

           Beside each attribute write an example of a way in which that attribute has been demonstrated over the past year.

         - Pick a couple of Psalms that talk about thanksgiving/praise.  There are many of these Psalms.  You may even wish 

            to have everyone in the house pick a different one.  Read these after you eat, or at a designated time throughout the   

           day.

         - Pick a couple of your favourite songs that focus on thanksgiving and praising God.  Spend some time as a family 

           praising God with these songs.

         - After you sing, spend some time in prayer thanking God.  Put the list you have made where people can see it.  If 

           people don’t know what to pray for they can pick an item on the list and thank God for it.

         - Invite a non-Christian neighbour or friend or someone who is alone to share the Thanksgiving meal with you.

These are a few of my thoughts for a Thanksgiving that will not only satisfy our hunger for food, but also our spiritual hunger to grow deeper in our knowledge of and relationship with God.  

I am determined that Thanksgiving next year WILL NOT be just another holiday!

** This information was taken from a book I recently read:

Martha Zimmerman. Celebrating the Christian Year.  Bethany House Publishers: Minneapolis, 1993.