Why Advent?
by Amy Scott Robinson, writer for BRF Ministries, Kevin Mayhew, Church Times and Engage Worship.
I’ve gained the nickname ‘Mrs Advent’ from my friends, and I can see why. The approach of the end of November transforms me into a slightly obsessive, wild-eyed woman who is trying to keep up with twenty different daily traditions, and who snarls at Christmas carols being played in shops or people who already have their tree up. I suppose it’s the season of the year when I am most tempted towards legalism - but it’s only because I love it so much. To date I have written five Advent-themed books, and many more poems and stories, trying to invite others into the unique spiritual experience offered by this special four weeks.
Is Advent Still a Thing?
The truth is, it feels as if my favourite season is threatened with extinction: not just Advent, but the feast which is supposed to follow, beginning on December 25th and lasting twelve whole days. Today’s Christmas starts too early and is all over just as it should be getting going, and we’ve lost the beautiful, quiet, contemplative season which was an opportunity to prepare for the most wonderful moment in history, when God was born on earth.
My problem is that I can’t resist a new Advent tradition, especially one which follows through the themes and progression of Advent: one which looks at the Old Testament story like the Jesse Tree, or the prophecies that foretold the Messiah like my new Advent candle, or the names of Jesus like the Advent Antiphons or the four candles on the Advent wreath that stand for the patriarchs, prophets, John the Baptist and Mary. I have become a collector of them. I have inflicted all of them, at some point, on my long-suffering family.
It’s not actually possible to fit them all into a day. My children get fed up. So do people expecting anything resembling work from me during December.
So there have been years when everything has crashed and burned, but now that my children are becoming teenagers, it’s interesting to look back and see what has hung on.
Important Advent Traditions
There are two constants in our Advent traditions.
The Advent wreath in the centre of our dinner table is never forgotten. There’s a song with a verse for each candle (and recently I wrote a new one to go into my book of seasonal traditions, Sleigh Bells and Stables) and we light a new candle every Sunday, relighting them at mealtimes and singing the song to remind us of the theme and stories for that week. The central candle for Christmas is then lit throughout the season.
When the children were a bit smaller, the Playmobil crib scene was another favourite. The stable starts off empty at the beginning of Advent, and gradually characters, animals and tiny objects are placed in it. The children used to love coming downstairs every morning to spot what had changed overnight. Mary and Joseph, meanwhile, with their inevitable donkey, started the journey at the other end of the house and moved daily closer, visiting every shelf in every room before they arrived on Christmas Eve. Jesus was only added after the midnight service. The wise men (many more than three of them as the collection grew!) likewise began their journey on Christmas morning and continued until January 6th.
Over the years, the collection has expanded into other winter and Christmas scenes, including a church: it shows the influence of the first Christmas spreading out through the world and through history to reach us. It is now too large to display it all at home, so the church borrows it for our Road To Christmas event! But even with Playmobil outgrown, the tradition of the empty, waiting stable in Advent and the journey of Mary and Joseph continues on a smaller scale with a more basic crib scene.
Why are Advent traditions important?
I’ve stopped to ask myself what these lasting traditions have in common.
Firstly, they are the ones that don’t stop at the end of Advent, like a calendar does: instead, the preparation leads into and provides for the celebration, so that by Christmas day the wreath is ready to be fully lit and the crib scene is ready for Jesus to be born. They continue to be useful and meaningful for the twelve days of Christmas celebration.
Secondly, they tell the story through symbols and suggestion, letting each person of every age understand and retell it in their own way, taking part as much or as little as suits their season of life. They allow for growth in understanding as the years pass.
Thirdly, they both engender that Advent experience of wonder and waiting: the flickering flames and gradually growing song, the tiptoeing downstairs to find the story building, growing in anticipation, figures surrounding an empty manger that we long to be filled. It’s an experience that I hope my children remember and look for as they grow.
As I once wrote in a series of Tiny Advent Poems, Advent is like turning out the lights before you bring in the birthday cake. The celebration afterwards is just not the same without it.