The Season

I was driving home this past week and noticed the changing colors of the leaves.  Here in Texas we don't experience fall like many areas do, but we still have leaves of yellow and red and bright orange.  On this particular fall day, the colors were vivid and beautiful.  It is an irony of fall  that these amazing and vivid fall colors signal to us the coming of winter; a season marked by gray and lifeless landscapes, and the appearance of death in nature.   Looks can be deceiving, and so it is with the season of winter; within which the church calendar has placed the season of Advent.  Contrary to the season in which it lives, this season of Advent represents for us the very essence of expectancy...signaling the coming of life, not death. 

The Latin word aventus, from which our word Advent derives, means "Coming."  It's earlier meaning, taken from the Greek word parousia, referred specifically to the Second Coming of Christ.  In the Christian church, we celebrate Advent as the time each year when we anticipate Jesus' coming...both the remembrance of His coming as a baby born in Bethlehem, and the expectation of His coming again as our victorious King and Lord. 

In the celebration of the Eucharist (The Lord's Supper, or Communion, as you may have heard it called), we make this proclamation, "Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again." 
Hidden within the hustle and bustle of these few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, we are called by God to set aside a quiet space in our lives and hearts to ponder these mysteries...  Jesus is Coming.  Jesus has Come. Jesus is with us now, and Jesus will come again.

These shorter days of winter lead to longer and darker nights...and while you may yearn for longer days and sunny skies, you may more easily see God's light during these darker nights of winter.   Has Jesus come in your own life? Can you see Him now...are you looking for Him, and for His coming?

The season is changing. Tomorrow marks the first day of this Advent season.  Jesus is coming; and as the scripture says, blessed are all those who anxiously look for His coming.  May the unique blessings of Advent be upon you and all of your household this Christmastime.

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