Waiting For the Light

 When I was a child, opening the little doors on my Advent calendar each day was so exciting! Every morning, I ran to it enthusiastically to find a new, colorful picture and a delicious chocolate. Somehow, this made the days of waiting for Christmas more bearable, as I counted down the days until all those gifts appeared under the tree.

Of course, I had no idea what Advent actually meant, except that it was a time to wait until the magical night when Santa finally came.

I re-created this experience with my own children, who were as excited as I was (we also made red and green paper chains and broke one open every day).

As an adult, of course, I have a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for the season we call Advent. The four weeks before Christmas is officially, a period of:

• Preparation
• Prayer and reflection
• Anticipation and Hope

 For me, personally, I like to think of it as a time of "Waiting for the Light". It is dark at 4:30 now and often cloudy and gray. We can't rely on the sun the way we do in other seasons, so we have to find our spiritual Light. During Advent, as we wait, we search within; we light candles to symbolize the coming of Christ; we practice silence to listen for "the still small voice" and we remain alert for signs of the true Light of the World, who is already very much with us. 

I love the symbology of the advent candles as well:

The first candle (purple) symbolizes hope, a beacon of light in a time of darkness. No matter what we are going through, personally or societally, hope gives us strength to keep going.

The second candle signifies peace and is also purple. It is called "the Bethlehem candle" because it signifies the transformative power of "the peace that passes understanding" that Jesus brought into the world.

The third candle (pink) symbolizes the profound joy that marks this time of celebration: the proclamation of the angels who said: "do not be afraid...I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people".

The fourth candle symbolizes love, the deep, abiding love of Christ for all of humanity that was gifted to the world so long ago and which we continue to try to emulate in our lives.

The fifth candle is the Christ candle, the purity of white, the color of the Light that illuminates all darkness and has the power to transform the world.

I'll be honest, recent events have me losing hope for the world and some mornings I wake up in fear for what the future may hold. But I believe there is no way forward but to keep the faith, to trust in the power of hope, peace, love and Christ to save us. 

So, each day this month, I will focus on keeping Advent in my heart and continue to wait, with joyful anticipation, for the Light to reveal itself fully.