On Saturday I stopped into our neighborhood coffee shop for a little jolt of caffeine. The Thanksgiving festivities had created a certain frenzied glow that I was still wearing but the familiarly of this ritual of a cup of joe reined me in and planted me in the present moment. Earlier in the week I had asked the barista what was planned for his holiday and he remarked that his wife’s family was coming to their house, twenty-five in all, and he was a little concerned that their home which is filled with three young boys was not always the neatest. I assured him that the eventual end of any Thanksgiving gathering rarely included an account of how clean the house was. We agreed on this and then I said “And, of course, we have the first Sunday of Advent to content with.”
This barista and I often share little church anecdotes. I learned some time ago that his college degree is in church music and in addition to making a splendid latte he also is a church musician. To my Advent comment, he replied: “It’s good to have a change of season, isn’t it?” I smiled at all that comment held. There was the relief that what we refer to in the church as ‘Ordinary Time’, the longest season of the church year, is finally over. Depending on when Pentecost lands, the season of Ordinary Time can go on for months and months. With the season of Advent, we are offered the quiet, moody music of the days that lead up to the big, colorful sounds of Christmas. This lead-up music is often in minor keys and filled with a poignant longing, words about preparation and images of waiting for the Christ Child to be born.
Longing. Preparation. Waiting. All words illuminate what the season of Advent is about. But there is still one more primary message of this season: Keep awake! This is my favorite part of the celebration of Advent. All the scriptures seem to pinch and poke us to ‘stay awake’ to the ways the Holy is showing up today, now, in our time. Many of these ancient words carry wild and explosive images that jar us off center…..not the very warm, fuzzy Christmas stuff that comes our way in popular culture.
This year our church’s theme for Advent is ‘Awaken to Amazement’. In many ways it is a very challenging theme. How do we awaken? What will it take? Why am I asleep? What will happen in this awakening? What will be required of me if I am ‘awake’? What would it take to bring about amazement? How might living an amazed life transform us?
So many questions to begin this season. I have no real answers but then maybe that is another gift of this short, dark and holy time. If I can be awake to the ever increasing darkness of these December days, I might be more aware and ready for the light that will return on the Solstice. If I can embrace the waiting, preparation, the longing of these four weeks, I might be more open to the ways the Christ Light is being born again and again right under my nose.
The poet Mary Oliver writes: ” When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.” And so it is. This change of season comes and the gift is held out once again. Stay awake. Be amazed.
Who knows what this particular change of season might bring?
