A Few Reflections

Source: reddit.com

In this first week of Advent 2018, a few reflections:

  • I view Advent as a great, warm light at the end of a tunnel. It’s not a train coming in the other direction but the light of Dawn. Days will get longer; sunlight will return; spring and rebirth follow winter.
  • Ultimately, it is the fulfillment of a promise: the birth of a Saviour. Worth waiting for and worth celebrating.
  • Advent teaches us about patience and hope, the foundations of faith. Advent is the kindling of faith. A sign, a star, appeared in the east and the Magi went on a quest to find and hail this new Saviour, becoming the first in a long line of sinners to “find Jesus”.
  • Fortunately, Herod’s hunt to find Jesus was not as successful. As well as the prelude to the triumph of Good over Evil, Advent is a contemplation of the threats and challenges that still stand in the way. Sadly, even today, not everyone is interested in Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward humankind. See Trump, Donald.
  • If you’re a little kid, all of this is over your head. When you’re a kid, Advent is about the Advent calendar, a chocolate a day from the first Sunday in Advent culminating on Christmas Eve. The Calendar was a German Lutheran inspiration in the 19th century, now gleefully enjoyed by multiple denominations and atheists alike.
  • The First Sunday in Advent is the real beginning of the Christmas season, not the day after Black Friday. Just sayin’.

Paul Sullivan is an award winning journalist and communications strategist in Vancouver , British Columbia.

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1Comment
  • Peter Bisson, SJ
    Posted at 08:06h, 06 December Reply

    Thank you Paul!

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