We are in the season of Advent – a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the coming of Christ.
One of my favorite hymns during advent is Prepare the Way of the Lord by William Rowan. I miss doing it, and it has been playing through my head lately. How many of you are using Advent to “prepare the way of the Lord”? And how are you doing it? For Catholics, we experience a change in our liturgy – we do not sing or recite the Gloria, and we include beautiful penitential rites – asking God for mercy. The Mass starts out with the blessing and lighting of the Advent candle, while prayers are said. I love this time of year, because it is so obvious that our season has just changed!
The Christmas tree. What traditions do you have around the Christmas tree? I must have 400 ornaments that I have been given or have collected over the years. But this year, I decided to do a ‘memory’ tree and used ornaments that had special meaning to me – those that were given to me by my dear friend, Beanie; ornaments made from egg shells that were my mom’s from her bowling league, The Bowlerettes; huge Santa ornaments that I got when I visited Calabash NC with my parents; ceramic ornaments my Aunt Judy made when I got married. Instead of having hundreds of ornaments on the tree, those that have special meaning to me are on the tree. It was so much fun picking them out and remembering who I was with when I bought them or received them.
I pray that we can all take time during this season of preparation to remember that Christmas is about celebrating the most precious gift from God – His Son. I pray that the memories you choose to keep close are the good memories, and that the memories you choose to make are happy memories. This is the season of hope.
Finding my Voice 