Christmas is almost here!

The hustle, bustle, and general good cheer of the season can leave me empty of the reason that I celebrate Christmas in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the glitz, glitter, gifts, and all things Christmas, but I can easily forget that this winter holiday is bigger than red, green, and gold. It’s about the coming of Jesus to earth as a baby. The Messiah. The bringer of hope and good news.

This is why I embraced the season of Advent years ago. Advent allows me to focus on what is important during the Christmas season. I like the way BibleProject.com put the big idea of Advent, it’s a time when “communities remember and celebrate the arrival of Jesus and join together in the hope of his ultimate return.”

Hope  Peace  Joy  Love

Each week of Advent has a theme. I haven’t traditionally been good about following the theme. I’ve let life get in the way. But this year, I am looking forward to exploring the theme together with you. In the first two weeks, our focus is remembrance and anticipation of Christ's return.

The first week of Advent focuses on Hope. I’ll post some scriptures for us to reflect on. Link a video or two. And maybe even a worship song to round out the week. At home during meals, I will light the first candle of my Advent wreath which has a place of honor on my table.

The second week is Peace. I will again post some supporting items and Bible readings that will support the theme of peace. I will light the first and second candles on the advent wreath.

Week three we shift our focus to remembering Christ’s first coming. The Joy that comes with a new beginning. The joy of the shepherds. The joy we have in knowing Christ and accepting His gift of salvation. I will be lighting the first, second, and third candles of the Advent wreath.

In the last week of Advent leading up to Christmas day, the theme is Love. “For God so loved the world, that He gave…” This week I want to focus on God’s love for us through Scripture, song, and reflection. I will be lighting all four candles on the Advent Wreath.
I will light the Christ candle on Christmas Day in the middle of my Advent wreath. I usually have a big pillar candle there and can let it burn most of the day reminding me that the light of the world was born this day.

Merry Christmas friend. I look forward to sharing this journey through Advent with you.

P.S.
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I love how the Advent candles end up at different heights in a spiral. The Fibonacci spiral wrapping around the center Christ candle in my advent wreath on my dining room table brings me joy! The perfection of a spiral points to the perfection of Christ’s birth and life, perfectly balanced and eternal.

In the aftermath of the election I’ve seen a series of posts, videos and other content actively displaying a sense of despair and deeply felt emotional response. In response to this, I’ve seen a fair amount of mocking snark, and condescension.

It seems like a lot of this engagement is only separating people further in a landscape that is already deeply divided.

My goal here isn’t to preach or fix, nor is it to chide or correct, but only to offer thoughts on possible paths forward. The reality is we all experience disappointment in big ways and small, and if that isn’t you this week, it will be you soon enough. So here we go, use if useful!

How to Find Hope in Disappointment:

1) Focus on What You Can Control

I love the band Switchfoot, not just for their incredible talent and sonic, but for the way they turn the problems of their songs back to local responsibility. They almost always frame an issue we all would agree is an issue, then they hold up a mirror and address themselves as the real problem and changing themselves as the way to move forward. It’s an interesting, surprising and for my money, healthy approach.

Are you in control of elections? Political parties? Swing vote on any big issue of the day? Yeah, me either. But just because you don’t hold levers of power doesn’t mean you can’t do something deeply meaningful. If you have the means, adjust your budget to be generous for the cause(s) you care about. If you don’t, look to give in other ways. Your favorite organization would likely benefit greatly from your expertise or simple hours as a volunteer.

Do something good! It’s an incredible strategy for re-directing focus on how bad “they” are to acting in a healthy and helpful spirit. Even if “they” are quite bad, we’re not in control of “them” - but we are in control of us upgrading our personal impact in a good way. My mirror agrees that I can do better.

2) Turn Disappointment into Opportunity
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I remember my high school baseball team with incredible fondness. What a great group of talented guys. They taught me lessons that will shape me forever.

One thing in particular was our beautiful response to striking out. I don’t remember who started this, but instead of cursing and throwing a helmet in disappointment, we started running back to the dugout and giving a detailed description of the pitch that got us. 

The team would crowd around for a detailed scouting report in real time. 

The result? 

Around the 4th inning or so, our collective intel allowed us to clobber the poor guy on the mound. Even the strike outs became a handy tool that helped us win.

So let your disappointments take you to school. Learn. What can you do better? The things that hit us badly, can improve us, and propel us in positive directions if we engage in a certain way.