Advent

Peace as Renovation

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Today’s readings: Psalms 122; 145, Zechariah 1:7-17, Revelation 3:7-13, Matthew 24:15-31

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We’ve all heard the phrase “forgive and forget.” We can achieve the first part but is the second part possible? What we usually mean by “forget” is “don’t bring it up again.” Our past is always with us, and while we don’t have to be defined by it, we can’t pretend it never occurred.

Our lives are like old houses we can neither sell nor tear down. We may choose to preserve them, but that can lead to being saddled with old features that no longer serve us. Who wants an outhouse when the world offers indoor plumbing? Another option is restoration, but then we are faced with picking which period of our past was the best one to stick with, and sometimes there are no good options. That leaves us with renovation. We get to choose what to keep and what to rebuild, but sometimes we need to live with some load bearing elements which can’t be torn out without the whole thing falling down.

Participants in recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous learn to renovate their lives: to honestly acknowledge and deal with hurts done to them, and to make amends for wrongs they’ve done to others. It’s an ongoing process necessary to maintaining sobriety, and new acknowledgments and amendments may arise throughout their lives. They stop trying to forget the past and make peace with it.

The prophet Zechariah taught the Israelites to make peace with their past. They’d once fallen out of favor with God, but that period was over and it was time to rebuild. They couldn’t recreate the same society which had displeased God, but time in exile had taught them what was essential and what needed remodeling. They had been forgiven, but they were wise not to forget.

When creating peace in our own lives, we can’t start from the ground up, and ignoring bad foundations leads to disaster. A good renovation involves an honest assessment of the materials available, thoughtful planning, and hard work. In the end, a life rebuilt for peace is a shelter of love and security for ourselves and others.

Comfort: Our past does not define us but we can re-define our pasts.

Challenge: What about your past is rotting your foundation? Work to renovate it, calling in experts if necessary.

The war on… Advent?

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WarOnAdventWhen do you think the “Christmas Season” starts? Is it the (ever earlier) day when stores begin displaying Christmas merchandise? When the radio starts playing carols? Right after Thanksgiving? When the television starts showing Christmas movies? Are we heading into a state of perpetual holiday preparation, or is there an official beginning to the Christmas season?

According to the church calendar, there certainly is: December 25.

Christmas begins on Christmas day and lasts until Epiphany, or January 6 (by which time traditionalists are pawning those five gold rings to board drummers, pipers, partridges, and the rest). Our culture tells us the four Sundays preceding Christmas are for kicking our holiday preparation into high gear, but they mark the beginning of the church year and the season of Advent.

Anyone wishing you “Merry Christmas” before that date is part of the media’s War On Advent.

Haven’t heard of that particular war? It’s the one that tells us to begin our materialistic holiday sprint in October and not stop until we collapse from exhaustion on January 2nd. Who has time to think about the first Sunday of Advent when we’re focused on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday? Or about the next three Sundays while we’re wrapping, baking, decorating, shopping, mailing, and partying?

Ironically, Advent is a season of reflection – a time intended for us to slow down to consider what it meant that Christ came into the world and why we long for his return. The season focuses on hope, love, joy, and peace. These themes are certainly cause for celebration, but they also remind us the world is desperately in need of each. Can we possibly reconcile Advent with the frenzy of “the holidays?” Some hard-core Advent fans will tell you a tree decorated before Christmas Eve is almost a sacrilege.

But maybe we can. Trees, presents, decorations – these are all secular aspects layered onto the traditions of our faith. Each of us can be intentionally reflective during this season, no matter what we are doing. Stringing up lights in the cold is a fine metaphor and opportunity for contemplating the coming of Christ into the world. Bargain hunting with the throngs at your local big box store is a challenge to honor the dignity of others under less than dignified circumstances. While we prepare holiday dinners, we can think of ways to reach those who lack food and loved ones. The important things we are meant to contemplate during Advent don’t stop being important after Christmas, New Year’s Day, or Epiphany. Our challenge is not simply to be solemn during Advent: it is to allow ourselves to be transformed by the presence of God in our meditations and celebrations, and in such transformation to find newer and better ways of living into the love of Christ through serving our neighbors. Be merry, but also be Mary.