One of the cool things about Advent is that there isn't a secular side to it, unless you count the Bart Simpson chocolate Advent calendars, which I totally meant to buy on ebay last month and didn't.
Advent is this stealth thing that happens while everyone else is shopping. Meanwhile, we're lighting candles and waiting for God to show up, as a baby of all things.
I know there are some people who get hung up on the fact that Christmas is pretty much an ancient pagan celebration that we've thrown a bunch of Jesus on top of. That it isn't based on historical data, that the manger may not have happened, that maybe there wasn't a star and if it was it can be explained away. It can all be explained away.
Except that God showed up, here, among us, and nothing else matters. It doesn't matter when or where or how that baby was born, only that he was.
The cycle of the church year follows Christ's birth, ministry on Earth, death, resurrection, and what came afterward. We relive the whole thing every twelve months. So, even though the historical dates don't line up, the rhythm works. I'm glad that we celebrate this moment in the darkness of December, when we can really use a little new life among us.
And we get to sit and wait for it to happen, knowing that it's going to happen and that there's nothing we can do to make it come any faster. We just mark the time with the candles.
Isaiah 60
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
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