This past Saturday I had the privilege of putting up our lights with my daughter and her husband. One of my fondest memories during Advent is being with the kids and decorating the house. I know it is not grounded in anything but family tradition - and has precious little to do with the Reformed tradition - but taking out the Advent CDs and putting up the lights along with the Advent wreath has always been something that fed my soul. So, to have one of my daughters home to help this year was just icing on the cake.
And they did an incredible job: gorgeous white lights all over the front shrubs and bold and beautiful colored lights on the 12' fir tree facing the street. We even had to borrow a ladder to get the last lights up on that sucker, but man do they look great! It is another visual prayer for me driving home in the darkness and seeing those lights. (Especially now that it is getting dark at 4 pm in the afternoon!)
Ever since the girls were small, we have collected what we tend to call "interesting" Advent records, tapes and CDs. Loreena McKinnitt is certainly one of our favorites... so is Carlos Nakai who plays the First Nation wooden flute in ways that always feeds my soul. And the whole Celtic Christmas stuff along with George Winston makes me weep with joy.
This whole season is a blessing to me: the excess, while manipulated by both greed and fear, is as real to me as the love. The sentimentality - which I confess caving in to from time to time - is just how some share those big, deep freakin' feelings we mostly carry around in silence. And all of it is an invitation to make connections and compassion real.
So, give yourself permission to let go a little this season, ok? Enjoy the lights - the tasteful and garish - and tip a pint for me. In the end you will be glad you did because this life goes by all too quickly.
This tradition evolved, I suspect, when Christmastide was moved to compete with the Feast of Mithros, near the Winter Solstice--a very cold, dark time, and one needing lights and warmth (and good food, etc etc) to see us all through to the spring.
ReplyDeleteWith the advent (if I may use the term) of LED lights, we have begun to light our way much more at home and at my workplace. An act of faith, really.