Bits of thought have been muddling around in my head for a couple weeks now; it wasn’t till after I had eaten two pieces of chocolate cake with my fingers, mid-day, and announced that I couldn’t wait any longer to get the live Christmas tree for the family room, that the restless push started shaping into words. I need Christmas, and I need it to be wonderful– that’s the bare bones of the thing.

See, I love everything about Christmas and I always have this feeling that there is so much celebrating to do in a month that it will never fit. I don’t want to miss any part of this magical holiday because it won’t be back for another whole year. This year especially it feels important to get it all in, because our family is changing shape and we are letting go of familiar traditions, and the whole Christmas season is rocking on its pedestal.

 Beauty….. Joy….. Meaning…..Miracle….. Wonder….. Peace.

That is Christmas in a nutshell and one of the few times and places on Earth that they all come together for more than a few moments. No wonder we all want to capture it, hold onto it, get as much of it as we can. After another year of pushing on and persevering in this Faith-journey, with death and disease and financial need in the world right down the street, the heart needs a month to contemplate the beauty of Christmas, revel in the sights and sounds of this holiday, hear echoes of the angels’ song: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.” It is a grander story than we could have imagined ourselves, that God would come to dwell in the skin of what He made; that God Himself would come down to bind up our brokenness, declare hope to the whole world.

At Christmas we get a glimpse of glory, get to remember the miracle-story and anticipate all over again– “unto us a Child is born!” We get to look beyond the everyday into the extraordinary and celebrate. “We are no longer lost; He has come down for us. We have a Savior…we have a Savior!”  At Christmas-time it is all on display, and everyone joins in the party whether or not they understand why.

But like many good things the harder we try to grasp it, the more elusive it becomes, and our very striving gets in the way of the experience.  I need to slow down enough to enjoy the holiday festivities. Look at people instead of projects. Keep the food and decorations simple enough that they remain fun and don’t become an overload of stress. Wonderful can turn into overwhelming in the space of a few hours, if I am not mindful.

The best part of it is that I could Keep It Simple and know that I am not missing out on anything, because Christmas is here to stay, a year-round truth not dependent on the accessories of the season. Maybe different this year, but never ruined, as long as we remember the reason for the party. “His love will reign forever…We have a Savior.”

“A child has been given,
King of our freedom;
Sing for the Light has come–
This is Christmas.” (We Have A Savior, Hillsong)

We didn’t celebrate advent when I was growing up, didn’t know anything about that centuries-old tradition, and when I became a mother and heard other mothers talking about making an advent wreath it seemed like just one more thing to do in a busy season. Later when we started celebrating Advent as a church it was a way to unify the church family’s celebration, focus on the meaning of Christmas and spread out our joy over a whole month.

But somewhere along the way the meaning of the word seeped into my heart and became a lifeline in that mad push to make Christmas picture-perfect (because it only comes once a year and somehow it matters so very much), a still whisper running beneath the season: coming. All the decorating and the baking and the bright wrappings and the music are only preparation for that one special day, and when it comes it might even seem a disappointment, unless you are looking for the right thing….prepared for what is coming…waiting with all the world for a Savior…He’s coming.

Advent is really just a way to make visible the words of the prophets, the collective longings of people in darkness, the long centuries rolling on, the hopes and cries of the suffering. We light the candles and see it..He’s coming…the Christ-child is coming to set everything right in the world…and the flame is burning brightly and nothing is impossible any more because God is with us.

So we light this first candle and our hearts quiet to listen for His voice: “A voice cries ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low…and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'” (Isaiah 40:1,4-5) And we count the days, pull out the boxes of decorations, trim the tree and the windows, deck the halls of our homes with hope; we rejoice in this month of preparation as we wait for Christmas, that one special day when we stop the world to remember His first coming and wait for His second coming. When the presents and trimmings are gone the promise of this day will remain…“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8)  He is coming!

“A child has been given,
King of our freedom,
Sing for the light has come:
This is Christmas…”  (Hillsong)