It can be easy to ignore Advent.
Sure, the liturgical color in church changes to blue; we may have an Advent calendar for the kids; the shopping and social scene heats up for some of us; but the spirituality of the season can be elusive.
This coming Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. The “alpha” of the year, next to last week’s omega. Christian New Year’s. All of which we notice if we make it to church; otherwise not so much.
Advent is one of those times when we think we should be “more spiritual,” than we are.. We may experience, as the poet George Wither puts it:
“Thoughts too deep to be expressed,
and too strong to be suppressed.”
Then there is the fact that we’ve heard the story so many times before that it becomes nearly impossible to hear it in a fresh way.
The writer Phillip Yancy says that Lent should have more to do with practice than penance. He suggests a simple practice, or discipline, that each of us could implement each day. I was drawn to its simplicity and also its do-ability and potential to change how one might experience this season. It’s far from a new thing but it is a core practice that can bring your attention to a different area than usual and it is intentional.
What he suggests is that you make a pact with yourself (or someone else if you want the accountability) to find someone each day to serve, being unconcerned if you get credit for the good deed or not.
Think of the possibilities: all the way from a kind, unexpected email to a good word to the person bagging your purchase at Target. Taking a few minutes more with someone you might ordinarily cut off. A poem, a prayer, a plate or cookies. A gesture towards a coworker, a neighbor, an annoying aunt, or someone you don’t know.
Then record it on your paper or electronic calendar at the end of each day to help you assess the practice after Christmas. I’ll be glad to meet with any of you and talk about how it went. I’m doing it myself.
One thing each day for next the four weeks. Spirituality for Real.
In that spirit, I’ll be using this dismissal in church for the next four weeks –which some of you have requested:
“Let us go into the word and know
that there are deeds of compassion and courage
that will never be done unless you do them
and words of hope and healing
that will never be spoken unless you speak them.”
See you in church for Christian New Year’s – a good time for a new beginning, and who doesn’t need that?
Barbara