SubscribeSeason of anticipation, hope
Throughout my week, I have been thinking about this season of Advent. It is the four-week period, this year from Nov. 29 to Dec. 24, on the Christian calendar that many churches set aside to spiritually prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It speaks to the hope of the season, the anticipation that something great, beyond the presents found under a Christmas tree, is coming. The events of this week have made me hungry for hope, so I am entering into my own season of anticipation.
Christmas ranks as my favorite time of year. I love everything about it, except the shopping. I’ve always kept a Christ-centered perspective about the day and raised my children to know that the true gift of the season is Jesus’s birth. But in the last decade, I’ve come to appreciate the Advent season and its messages more since our Baptist church began emphasizing the period through sermons. Participating in Advent Sundays and reading daily meditations enriches the joy of the season.
Part of that message is to slow down, focus less on the hustle and bustle of the commercialized holiday and more on the true reason for the season. Find time in the days leading up to Christmas to attune your inner senses to the expectancy of the coming Christ and turn your heart to the hope that lies in His birth.
Here is the first of a cycle of Advent poems. Read, meditate and enjoy. Your Christmas season will be brighter, more hopeful as a result.
Awaiting The Incarnation
Advent I
As the Advent time draws near
We wait with expectation
As Mary and her husband dear
Await the Incarnation.Advent is a time to look
To watch with eyes of Faith
To make our hearts an open book
Our souls an empty slate.For Christ will surely come to all
To write upon our inward scroll
The words of Faith He shall recall
And childhood’s love extolThe Baby Jesus shall rekindle
The child of Faith deep down within
For as we light the Advent candle
We shall give birth to Him.
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