Last Sunday’s Hanging of the Greens service was a fun and meaningful way to begin our Advent season together. Kids and youth sang and played music, from the festive sing-a-long with the preschool choir’s “Little Gray Donkey” to the beautiful renditions of more traditional carols. Members of all ages decked the windows with candlelight and the banisters and walls with greenery, while the youngest among us placed animals in the manger and Chrismons on the tree. We sang favorite carols together and ended by gathering on the front steps to belt out “Go Tell It on the Mountain” while passers by slowed their drive with windows rolled down. We finished it off with goodies and cider and laughter in the Fellowship Hall. If you missed it, don’t worry! I have a feeling that a new tradition has been born.
Other favorite traditions are on the way – our Chancel Choir’s “Lessons and Carols” service on the 15th, Christmas caroling on the 18th, the Longest Night service on the 22nd, and of course, our candlelight Christmas Eve. There are so many good and meaningful things going on this season—at church and beyond—that it’s easy to get overwhelmed or to rush from one place to the next without really soaking it all in.
In the season of Advent, the church is called to “prepare the way” for the coming of Christ. Preparing the way means more than checking all the things off of our lists —whether they are tasks to do, events to show up for, people to see, or experiences to have. Preparing the way is a matter of the heart. It requires us to pause. To slow down. To take a deep breath. To sit with it all. I invite you to carve out some moments this season to do just that—to reflect on all that is happening around us and to find once again the meaning in it all. May these moments fill you with hope and peace, joy and love so that when Christ comes, your heart will be ready.