Advent is the beginning of a new church year. It includes four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Advent is a time of preparation - for Christmas. So Christmas doesn't just happen one day. We are supposed to be ready for it; in a spiritual sense as well as being ready at home.
As Advent commences in 2022, we have to remember we are right at the beginning of the story; liturgically anyway. There is no Christ child; not yet. The people metaphorically gather; and there is a sense of looking into the distance. It is like looking at the horizon from a high place like from a lookout, or from an airplane. You can see, but you cant perceive everything in detail if it is too far into the distance. It is vast and you know something is there, but you don't know exactly what. But it doesn't have to be something far off for you to be filled with curiosity, expectation and wonder. We could look into the eyes of our horse, or doggo, and just wonder. Or your garden in bloom? We don't really know what we are looking at. Not really. So we are looking ‘toward’ Christmas, but not directly “at” it. If we embrace this, we might feel wonder, curiosity, hope, or even apprehension?
During advent, we prepare our spirit. We do so with humility and grace. Openness, stillness, humility and willingness are the hallmarks of spiritual preparation. If the door is open often enough, something might come through. We ought also be reading or talking or just be open to what life might be saying to us at this time. Maybe then we can see those characteristics in the Christ that is born to the world in the Christmas event. Perhaps if we approach in this way, the impact of Christmas will be greater.
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