Advent
Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season. For Americans, the holiday season is quickly coming; for Canadians, it began early last month. Even with the hustle and bustle of holidays (family dinners, school programs, work parties, and church events), we have made it a point to acknowledge the Advent season after supper each Sunday. This is a special tradition for me, as attending a Lutheran church in my early years gave me a deep appreciation for the Church calendar.
The first Sunday of Advent always catches us off guard because we rarely have our Christmas decorations out by then. Henry and I, while preparing supper, are also taking turns tearing through the basement, rummaging through boxes to find our advent wreath, the candles, and the print-out of Scriptures to read. From there, we usually end up searching last-minute online to find the readings because we can’t find that sheet of paper.
Thankfully, Henry and I aren’t the only ones in our family who enjoy this tradition. All four kids enjoy the candles and the singing. We designate who will light the candles each week; even little Maxson gets to with some assitance. We always sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” after the candles are lit. (I can still hear 4yo Elia singing, “E-Ma-A-an-you-el” – that first “A” being much, much higher than it ought to be.) The kids have only learned the first verse, but maybe this year we can teach them another.
During the Scripture reading and brief discussion, it is usually hard to hold everyone’s attention, but I think they get it. It’s a special moment of togetherness and of remembering God together. The tradition and the candles are the convincing points.
After yesterday’s post, I wonder if we could read Scripture together throughout the year after supper and occasionally celebrate communion. I would love to be disciplined enough to do that. In the meantime, we still have until November 29th to gather all the Advent-celebration tools. But then again, maybe frantically searching for them at the last minute is part of the tradition.
