Preparing For Mystery

Some thoughts on Advent

It has been a long time indeed since I have written a post here at The Hidden Reservoir and for that I apologize. However, since I’m a real fan of the season of Advent, and most of what I have written here in the past is related to Advent, I have begun to feel the desire again to share some thoughts on Advent.

(Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash)

This coming Sunday, December 1, will be the first Sunday of Advent. While there are an abundance of Christian resources about Advent I still regularly encounter people who are not familiar with the practice and intent of this time of year. In 2022 I wrote a series of devotionals for Advent entitled Embracing Hope and at the start of the series I wrote about what exactly Advent is and where the tradition came from, so if that sounds helpful, you can read that post here.

This year I have been thinking about how Advent should be a time to prepare ourselves- our hearts- for the coming of Jesus to the world. I have found the following quote by pastor and author Trevor Hudson to be insightful:

“I have noticed a few things about how people experience Christmas. On one hand, they yearn to celebrate the mystery of the season in a way that is meaningful, significant, and even transformative. On the other hand, they reach Christmas Day feeling unprepared and unready. Shopping, finalizing holiday plans to visit friends and family, and decorating their homes gobble up the days preceding Christmas and fill them with anxiety. Christmas Day arrives and they have not observed Advent the way they intended. Consequently, their celebration of the Christ child on Christmas Day lacks a sense of wonder.”

When I look at my December calendar this year, I see that this may very likely describe my experience of Christmas in 2024. But does it need to? There is still hope that I can take intentional steps to plan and adjust my life so that I can prepare myself for the mystery of Christ’s coming.

Let me pose a question to you that I am pondering: how am I planning to slow down in during Advent so that I have a richer faith experience that prepares my soul for Christmas? For many of us this is a daunting question. Our schedules are full of demands and commitments that cannot be changed or removed. Perhaps we can start by thinking in terms of minutes rather than hours. Some of us may be able to add or subtract from our schedules more easily, but if not, minutes may be exactly the place to start…. a few minutes in the morning or before bed? A few minutes of silence in the car instead of the radio or audio book? A few minutes of walking outdoors? I believe that small adjustments are possible for all of us and could impact our Christmas season in surprising ways.

I hope these thoughts come to you not as another task to do or something to feel guilty about, but rather as an invitation. We are all on a journey toward Christmas. What kind of Christmas experience would we like to have this year and how can we prepare our hearts for the mystery of Jesus’ coming?

One more thing: One resource that I follow here on Substack is The Slow Way by Micha Boyett. Her focus is on the ‘miracle of going slow’ and I find her posts to be thoughtful and regularly challenging in a healthy, helpful way. Definitely worth checking out!