advent: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the world

one of the problems of starting blogging is that one feels one should continue blogging, especially during the big times of the year. so, i have been thinking i should say something about advent, but have been hesitant to jump to it. advent is a multi-layered season, because the coming of christ is a multi-layered event, and our celebration of it brings together many parts of that coming at one time.

the earliest observation of advent by the church seems to have been in the fast preceeding not christmas but the ephiphany, which from very early times in the eastern and celtic church has been a time of baptism. that is where the penitential layer, which is much less popular in the west particularly today, comes from. we are not in our "culture" very comfortable with penitence; we tend to focus more on the coming of the new-born king. more and more we use blue advent candles. and the birth of christ, at christmas, is of course also part of the season. but the earlier emphasis in the west was on the second coming, on the last things as we used to say. this is made very clear in the propers in the pre-vatican ii lectinary and missal.

i have been thinking about whether i might write a little something about each of these emphasises, but i think what is suggested by folklorists as an even earlier understanding of this time of the year is something most of us need most, and which would allow us time to explore some of the other gifts of this season, the gift of a new king who would give us a new heart, so that all would be well.

that earliest understanding is reflected, some think, in the advent wreath. the story is that at this time of the year, the dark time with long and cold nights, people would actually take the wheels off their wagons to turn them into chandeliers to light their times together as they waited and encouraged the return of light, telling stories in the glow of the candles.

few of us would not benefit from something similar. rather than make advent a time of making a list and checking it twice, we could sit down and tell each other stories, read to one another, or curl up with candle light and a novel. (i just finished hermann hesse's wonderfully provocative and ironic the glass bead game, a wonderful meditation on, among other things, both penitance and the last things, although i did not expect that when i picked it up.)

there is a beautiful collect in the family prayers section of the book of common prayer we might find helpful:

"o god of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength; by the might of thy spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art god; through jesus christ our lord. amen."

i confess i was even more pagan after reading hesse: i had a little campfire last night to celebrate the beautiful advent vesper light, and the encourage the return of light and warmth.