PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

December 6, 2020

ADVENT

Ever since I was a child, one of the seasons of the church for which I looked forward was Advent.  Growing up we had an Advent calendar that had little windows to open each day of the season.  On Sunday we lit Advent candles.  These traditions continued when Diane and I were married.  With the coming of three boys we added something special to eat after lighting the Advent candles on Sunday evenings.  When the boys grew up and left home, Diane and I continued to light candles but somehow the calendar with the little windows disappeared along with the special treats.

The Advent season was always a special time in the churches I served.  Every Sunday we would light candles on an Advent wreath.  Most years the service of lighting was bracketed with the Advent hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  For many years one Sunday would be devoted to special music by the choir.  The climax of the season was the Christmas Eve services with the lighting of Christmas candles as the congregation joined together in singing “Silent Night” and the lights were slowly dimmed.  Every year there was the debate on which Sunday of Advent we could start singing Christmas hymns.  Generally, we would sing one the third Sunday and two the fourth, but not always.  At several churches we had Advent bible studies.

Advent 2020 will be much different from any that I have experienced in the past.  There will be no in person services or events at the church.  As I mentioned last week in my article this was the first Thanksgiving that Diane and I shared with only the two of us.  There is the possibility this will continue for Christmas.  Since only guests of the players may attend, we have rolled over our Purdue men’s and women’s basketball tickets to next year. A number of people we know have hunkered down in their own homes until the danger of the coronavirus passes.  Rather than a sense of anticipation and excitement, this Advent there is a sense of foreboding and fear.  The lives of many Americans have been seriously disrupted.

To counteract all the negativity surrounding this Advent season, Diane and I have decided on several ways to celebrate the season. At lunch we are using an Advent daily devotional which was sent to all the members of the church we attend.  While we are eating we play songs of the seasons.  For the evening meal we continue to use the Upper Room.  The evenings of the four Sundays of Advent we are using the litanies in the Upper Room for the lighting of our Advent Candles.  Once again we are using an Advent calendar that when you open the little window for the day you get a scripture reading and a piece of chocolate.  We have reinstituted the special Sunday evening treat.  However, this year we have to be sensitive to our low carbs diet.

The use of the Advent daily devotional connects us with the other members the church that are using it.  The Advent litanies from the Upper Room connect us to Christians around the world.  The Sunday evening treat connects us to days gone by and our family.  Playing Christmas music helps to set the mood and connects to all kinds of memories from the past.  Now having a mobile phone helps me keep better in touch with all my friends and loved ones.

We can not always control our circumstances; however, we can have some control over our response to them.  Last week in my musings I mentioned how in a Nazi concentration camp Corrie ten Boom and some of her fellow prisoners developed disciplines that helped them survive.  They created some order in the midst of their chaos.  This Advent as the Covid-19 is still with us and we experience its disruption of our lives, we can create disciplines and practices that will help to bring order out of our chaos.