The Season of Advent

There is something about the seasons of Advent and Christmas that touches me very deeply. For me, the most meaningful affirmations of the gospel and of the Christian mystery are found in this season. At the end of the hymn “O Come, All Ye Faithful” when we sing “word of the father, now in flesh appearing,” and the voices all sing strong above the organ’s fullness, I am struck anew by the wonder of knowing God in so close a way as humanity. And the further mystery of the incarnation is that we believe that God is found not only in the flesh of Christ, but also in our own humanity, because the church is also the body of Christ. Suddenly, I’m looking for the famous “word of God” in everyone I meet, even when it seems unlikely. I think that this insight is a marker on the trail toward peace on earth.

I am also moved by the symbolism of light and darkness. Christmas is in the darkest week of the year. During all the weeks of advent, our nights grow longer and our days shorter. But we do not allow the darkness to overcome us! We dispel it by adding lights to our advent wreath, one more candle each week. We light our houses and our trees. Finally, we gather on Christmas Eve in the sanctuary, where no light shines through the windows, and we light our own candles. And all of this is to say that we will not stand by while darkness grows. We will bear light against the dark.

What I hope we are really saying is that when the darkness of hatred, fear, prejudice, war, and injustice grow, we will respond with the light of kindness, love, honesty, peace, and justice. The word of God will be made flesh, and as it says in the gospel of John, this is the light of the world, and the darkness shall not overcome it.