In American culture, the weeks of Advent are teeming with parties, shopping, family gatherings, and the like. Men and women often work overtime to earn a little extra money to afford gifts. And when we finally drop into a chair to enjoy a moment of relaxation, the television unleashes upon us an onslaught of holiday-themed advertisements. What is the message? For the most part, it is anything but the news of Advent.
Therefore, it is important to carve out time to consider the significance of the coming of Christ. Following are a few suggestions of where to look.
Advent is a time for looking up… with joy at the night sky, imagining what it must have been like to see the Bethlehem star, marveling at the heavenly expanse and knowing that God came down.
Advent is a time for looking down… to search our hearts and thank God for the Spirit who abides there, asking the Lord to kindle anew the flame of our faith.
Advent is a time to look around… giving and receiving gifts of love with friends and family, to be the hands of God that reach out to the world.
Advent is a time to look forward… the new year is coming soon, full of opportunities to pursue fresh, courageous and bold opportunities for service.
And Advent is a time to look back… reverently across the centuries to the Bethlehem countryside where angels unfurled heavenly glory to shepherds in the quiet night before the silence was pierced by angelic song and the voice of a crying infant.
Come near, draw close, and worship this infant King; Christmas is coming.
