Come, O WisdomChristians throughout the ages have spent the final week of Advent singing, praying, and reflecting upon the seven great O Antiphons. These ancient verses have been captured in the lyrics of the great hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel, but existed far before the hymn itself.
These O Antiphons describe to us more fully who it is that we anticipate during Advent.
Yes, “God with Us” is coming afresh on Christmas this year; but Jesus is always far more than we imagine him to be.
The final week of Advent means it is time for the seven O Antiphons. I find these to be helpful antidotes to the business of the final week before Christmas. You can subscribe to Rhythms of Habit today to receive daily reflections on these antiphons between now and Christmas.
Jesus is EmmanuelWe all already follow a wide variety of calendars. Sometimes those calendars conflict with one another. (I am serving this morning at Church while the World Cup final is being played, for example. Two of my favorite calendars are not playing well together…)
Of all the Church seasons, it may be Advent that is most often at odds with our other cultural calendars. While we celebrate Advent, a season of reflection, penitence, and anticipation, our other calendars tend to increasingly fill up with business and festivities.
A lesson in governance as I navigate changing traffic signal timing for a light near our school:
The people I interact with in the city office are very helpful, from the Director to the phone operators. The processes they are tied to are mind-numbinly bad.
The One With the Pink CandleLiturgical colors—those featured in various Holy Days and Holy Seasons—do more than remind us of what season we are in. (Though that is always helpful.) In a future post we’ll explore the ins and outs of these colors—what they signify and what they do to us. But I mention colors this week because you have likely noticed that Advent candles are not uniform in color: most of the candles are purple (the color of the season), and there is sometimes a white or gold candle in the center to be lit on Christmas Day.
Advent as a call to joy through repentance.There are some things that are very real, and yet very invisible.
We often see the result of these things, but the thing itself remains unseen.
Wind may be a good example. Wind is very real—nobody would argue with that. But it is also very invisible. There are no wind particles that make up “wind.” We can see trees or dust or debris being moved by the wind, but we cannot see wind itself.
Advent as preparation for judgement.What is the theme of each week of Advent? and What do each of the Advent candles represent? are the sort of questions that illicit a wide range of answers. It is probably most common today for the themes of Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy to be linked to each of the four weeks of Advent. An older tradition asks us to focus on the four last things during this season: death, judgement, heaven, and hell.
A Holy New YearThe Church Year begins afresh tomorrow with the First Sunday of Advent! Some of you recently began intentionally following the Church Calendar and are looking for ways to be more formally shaped by this ancient practice. Others of you have followed the calendar for years, and have a fairly seasoned set of traditions for each major season. Regardless of where you are on your journey with the Church Calendar, Advent offers not just an opportunity to prepare for the season of Christmas, but a fresh start—a new year—of Christian discipleship.
Oh no. It has happened. I tried to prevent it by asking reason to temper my expectations.
But mere hours before kickoff …
I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN.
USA is taking home the trophy.*
*or advancing to the Round of 16 and remaining competitive in their first knockout match.
I just finished reading Pillars of the Earth. It was published when I was four years old, but seems to have been written for me to read at this exact age (37).
Great books tend to feel like that, don’t they?
An unusally free Saturday means that I had a chance to make some good progress on the playhouse.
The final first-person verb of the Nicene Creed helps us remember that the Christian faith is more than mental affirmation of truth. It involves a shaping of hopes and desires.
