As we near the end of the month of November our attention
turns to the holiday season. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year will
soon be upon us. Planning for festivities to come is not only a cultural
necessity but can have a spiritual benefit for us as well. The spiritual side
of our holiday preparation can be found in the concepts of hope and
expectation. As Christians, we are a people of hope and longing. We hope that
the peace of Christ will one day reign on earth as it does in heaven. We long
for the day that Christ will return and restore our reality to the blessed
peace it once was at creation.
There are many traditions in this season of longing and
waiting. In times past Advent was a more penitential season where, like lent,
people waited in fasting and self-denial. In stark contrast, today we have the
Advent calendar, where we comfort ourselves in the waiting with rationed
portions of daily chocolate. Still other traditions people observe are to pour
themselves into all those holiday plans. People send cards, have holiday
parties, travel to see family, purchase gifts, and so much more.
This year as you go about with all the activity of the
holidays, think about what you are really preparing for in the arrival of
Christ. In all your holiday plans, have you included any spiritual preparation?
This year why not take some time to think and pray about what we ought to be
doing if we really knew Christ’s return was imminent. How might that change our
lives and how can we use that thinking to draw us closer to Him who we will one
day see again.
May God be with you in this season of waiting and
expectation.
