Welcome to the Advent Season 2024!
Today, we light the first candle of hope and expectation. As we do, I think about how I can bring light and hope into this year’s Advent Season.
Advent is a season of preparation; expectant waiting to celebrate the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. Wikipedia defines the term as an Anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming.”
Sometimes, I wonder how we ‘ring in’ Advent as compared to Christmas with all the ‘busyness’ responding to commercial ads thrown at us daily. I recall how Advent was celebrated in a culture where I grew up as a child and teenager many years ago in Africa without all of the commercialism. I try to compare the celebration of Advent with our culture In the States.
We got ourselves prepared spiritually as a family. We turned to the Word. Without all the American holiday extravaganza distractions, we could focus more on what Advent meant to us as Christians. Reading what the prophets foretold about the coming of the Messiah always paved the way for a deeper understanding of what it meant to ‘expect.’
Here are a few of what the prophets foretold in the Old Testament:
Numbers 24:17,19: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel . . . a ruler will come out of Jacob . . .”
Psalm 2:7-9: “You are my Son, today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance; the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter, you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Isaiah 42:1,4: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations . . . He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth…”
Finally, we were reminded that as we waited, we should look for His presence in our daily lives – not the future but the present- because of the certainty of His return. I feel exceptionally blessed to have had the privilege to experience and share the Advent season with families and friends in so many places. The tradition is universal.
Honoring Advent may look a bit different for you and your family this year, but I hope that in this period of waiting, you prepare the way that honors, celebrates, and includes others. May the Peace of Advent find its way into your journey. Amen
Agatha Pratt
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