Even among the congregants of churches that do observe the advent season, which began last Sunday, many believers allow the time to slip by unobserved. Timothy Paul Jones, a Southern Baptist, asks why.
Perhaps it’s because, for believers no less than nonbelievers, our calendars are dominated not by the venerable rhythms of redemption but by the swifter currents of consumerism and efficiency. The microwave saves us from waiting for soup to simmer on the stove, credit cards redeem us from waiting on a paycheck to make purchases, and this backward extension of the Christmas season liberates us from having to deal with the awkward lull of Advent.
. . .
Why this Advent-free leap from All Hallow’s Eve to Christmas Eve?
Perhaps because Christmas is about celebration, and celebrations can be leveraged to move products off shelves. Advent is about waiting, and waiting contributes little to the gross domestic product.
On a related note, Tony Reinke tweeted this today.
How to abuse narratives by importing our own mood expectations (Newell, The Feeling Intellect). pic.twitter.com/JVfgWmru5J
— Tony Reinke (@TonyReinke) December 1, 2015
Since our kids were little we have read a chapter from Jotham’s Journey or one of the other books in that series every night during Advent.
http://www.christianbook.com/ytreeide-advent-stories-4-volumes/arnold-ytreeide/pd/43934X
Each chapter includes a point for discussion and ends with a cliffhanger to leave the kids anticipating the next night’s reading. It’s popular enough that the year one of the volumes went out of print, used copies were selling for over $70 on eBay.
The original volume, Jotham’s Journey, tells the story of a young boy who is separated from his family when his village is raided. As he travels through the country looking for his parents he meets both friends and enemies as he also encounters signs of the coming Messiah. The story culminates in Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born. Bartholomew’s Passage and Tabitha’s Travels follow a similar pattern with many of the same friends and enemies. Getting the above link I discovered there is now a fourth book in the series, Ishtar’s Odyssey.
Those do look good. Thanks for pointing them out.
The Chrismon tree in my church growing up was topped, not with a star, but with a golden crown of thorns.
I’ve always thought that was a beautiful and powerful image.