Christmas: A Celebration of Hope

Christmas is upon us again and, just as every year, the season is full of emotions and the attempt to perpetuate happiness/cover up pain and sadness through buying gifts, as well make our yearly donations to charity.

Terror ism is on the rise...or is it? Fear has always been a plague of humanity, but has manifested itself in various ways throughout history. From Egypt to Rwanda; from New York to Paris, Fear and hatred have been a darkness that has threatened time and time again to snuff out our lives. 

Christ,as is upon us again and, just like every year, we are quick to forget what Advent means for us. The light and glory of salvation shining in our dark and hateful world. 

There is longing in my heart and I cannot fill. Longing for security and longing for comfort. Christmas can't give those, but the hope that Christmas stands for can. 

I've experienced bouts of loneliness that pushes me to seek a relationship that I know will never complete me or take away my fears or the darkness of life. I have experienced fear that says to give up and calls my strength into question. I have known hate, and it nearly killed me. 

But in this truth I will delight, and therefore have hope, that Christ has come and He is with me all my days. He is more faithful than my feelings, and though he lead me through darkness I will trust in Him. 

I know pain. I know the suffering of the soul and the plague of darkness resting on the mind. But I know Christ in his glory and I know His love for me for I've seen His light in my dark soul. I have felt His warm embrace in the cold places of the world, and I know...I know that I have all I need. 

Christmas is upon us again and, just like every year, stands as an oasis in the desert. The hope in the darkness, the fire in the cold, beacon of life shining in the valley of the dead. 

Happy Advent,

Stephen

Joyful Lament: Preparing for the Season of Advent

We are but a week away from the month of December and from the liturgical time of Advent! In the midst of overwhelming commercialism it is easy to lose the beauty and meaning of this holiday season. It's unfortunate that the holidays have too often become about selfishness and greed.

In the upcoming cold and desolate month we will be buying gifts, hanging ornaments, verbally and emotionally assaulting each other over costs and item availability, stuffing our faces, destroying our teeth, and complaining about getting the wrong color for the iPod Touch we asked for. It's incredible that the symbol of Christmas is a Bishop/Saint and yet the Church often goes unremembered and Christ is neglected.

Christmas and Advent is, and will always be, a Christian holiday. People get angry when politicians have "holiday" trees instead of Christmas trees. If they aren't Christians then they can call them whatever they want, the holiday has no real significance or importance to them anyways.

The giving of gifts is a beautiful tradition of Christmas. I am by no means saying that gift-giving should be eliminated from this holy day since it is the day God gave the greatest gift of all: His Son...Himself. We live in the realm of ungratefulness, never remembering the true beauty of Christ's coming. Advent is to be a time where we celebrate and rejoice in the greatness of God and His love for us, but it should also be a reminder of the darkness that was before Christ came into our lives. This reality should also bring our minds to the harshness of sin that still remains in the world and all that is yet to be brought into full subjection to Christ. There are still millions of people who have yet to even hear of Christ!

That said, Advent should be a time of lament, but it should also be a time of repentance; remembering that the reason Christ came was to save us from the sin that destroys our society, culture, economy, and
government. He came so that He would die and usher in the age of the Church, and God forbid that we eat and drink in celebration of His coming without first falling on our knees in humility and fearful trembling in the revelation of our sinful state.

May we all be fasting and praying as we approach the day set aside in memorium to Christ's birth.

Grace and Peace,

Stephen