Dear youth ministry friends,
This statement will come as a surprise to exactly no one who knows me:
I am a do-er.
I am someone who appreciates tending to various tasks. Crossing items off of to-do lists. Generally feeling efficient in my spirit. When my four inboxes say, “You have no unread messages,” my heart leaps for joy. (No, really. It does.)
Christmastime is no different; in fact, the do-er in me kicks into high gear once December rolls around. Already in my calendar are days set aside for the glorious five-fold effort that is Christmas in the Olds household: 1. Decorating the tree; 2. Decorating the house; 3. Baking cookies; 4. Handwriting/sending Christmas cards; and 5. Wrapping presents. Perhaps your schedule looks similar. Each one of these things genuinely brings me joy; I am glad to do them. But they also take effort and time. When the calendar turns and I see December 1st looming, I know that I will be quite busy.
For western Christians this year, December 1st also happens to be the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a weird animal. Unlike Christmas, with its explosion of red and green and candy and frivolity and excitement, Advent is… quiet. Many Advent hymns have more in common with funeral dirges than with their Christmas carol counterparts. Unlike Christmas prep, Advent is not a time for decking the halls; it is a time for pausing, and for readying the rooms in one’s heart for the reception of the Christ-child once again.
One of our Lectionary readings for December 1st comes from Luke 23, which reads in part: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times…”
This doesn’t sound at all “Christmasy.” And, perhaps that is the point. Amidst all of the preparations we well-intentioned souls engage in in December… it can be easy to forget to slow down and breathe in this season. It can be easy to forget that the alertness of Advent is different from the anxiety of Christmas prep. Keeping an eye out for Christ involves a different orientation of one’s spirit.
This year, I decided to try something new in my church. Right around the card-writing and the tree-trimming… I now have penned in “Advent time.” It is quiet time, time where I will gather with other like-minded souls. For an hour, we will be quiet together in prayer, we will listen to instrumental music, and we will be creative together (with coloring, stitching, creating things from different mediums). The hope is that this will transfer to other days of the week as well. We’ll see.
There’s a lot of talk about the Christmas spirit. I’m all for it; I truly love the Christmas season. And: as we tend to our young people: may we also show them an Advent-y spirit. May we take a moment to pause, and allow the outside voices to become dim, so that our spirit can be alert to Christ’s work in this world. Unlike our Christmas gatherings, planned down to the littlest detail, we have an opportunity to help our youth (and ourselves) remember that they are a part of a kingdom that is not of this world, and is not of our making.
Blessings to you all in this season of preparation and of waiting. Thank you for the work you do with your young people: they are so much better for having you in their lives. May the gifts of both Advent and Christmas find you this year.
On the journey with you,
Rev. Jill