Preparing to Prepare

When do Christmas decorations go up in your family?  When growing up in my family, the Christmas tree and stocking went up on Thanksgiving or the day after.  This choice was less about stopping the slow colonization of the calendar by Christmas season and more about who had the knowledge about how to put up the 1990 artificial Christmas tree.  My dad was the keeper of the knowledge of how the branches linked into the tree stand and Thanksgiving Friday was a day when we knew he would be home to do it.  So, the whole family pitched in after turkey day to decorate the house.

Knowing that my tree won’t be going up for another few weeks, it was humorous for me to read my text messages before service on Sunday after it had snowed.  My in-laws had blissfully left us to the snow as they flew to Hawaii.  We were sending them pictures of sleet and snow and they sent us pictures of palm trees.   My youngest sister-in-law responded by saying, “yeah… mom and dad the Christmas tree might be up when you get home.”

Christmas displays are already up in stores.  Christmas music is already starting to creep in at the edges.  Many of us are breaking out the warm sweaters and winter boots.  We are already in the early stages of preparing for Christmas…
… but how do you prepare for Advent?

It is odd to think about preparing for Advent because Advent is the season when the Christian Community prepares for the coming of the Christ Child.  So, preparing for Advent kind of feels like preparing to prepare.  It is a little silly.  And yet, by the time Advent begins, the Christmas season will be off like Rudolf leading the reindeer.  So, it is worth spending some time now to think about what we want out of the Advent season this year.

This Advent Season, we will once again be joining in with the A Sanctified Art Curriculum.  Their theme for this year is, “What do you fear?”  As a part of their curriculum, we will, once again, be making available their Advent Daily Devotions.  This Sunday, we will provide a sign-up sheet for those who would like a printed copy.

In addition, we will be preparing our space for the season in a slightly different way this year: we have a joint Hanging of the Greens Worship service planned for November 23rd at 10:00 a.m.   This service will be a non-traditional service during which we begin to decorate the worshiping space for the season of Advent.  Decorating the rest of the building will continue after the service (and some coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies!).

So, get ready to be ready!  It is time to prepare to be prepared.  The seasons are changing, and we change with them.