Thank you! My church also offers a special program during Advent to help us with preparation and soul searching. I used to live in Switzerland in a locale where the custom was to send the children outside to play in the afternoon of December 24th, while the adults decorated the house and made it ready for Christmas. When I experienced my own family breaking up, along with the breakups and new relationships with in-laws, and saw all these children trying to be "fair" to multiple sets of parents and grandparents, I decided that our tradition would be to celebrate Christmas for the full 12 days, only starting with December 25th. What on earth has happened to us that Christmas now means we should shop 'til we drop, starting in mid-October? What are we teaching our kids?
37
No mention of powerful, insecure, ruthless King Herod and his place in the dark aspects of Advent not lost on this child? Dude was so enamored of his fantasy of absolute power that he'd destroy anything that hinted at threatening it, including baby boys. Imagine the indignity of gifts from wise kings not intended for him, but for the true chosen one!
We were taught that our acts of kindness during advent represented pieces of hay in the manger that would shelter the refugee savior and his parents after their flight.
What a timeless tale. Wouldn't want to leave any characters out.
20
Words of wisdom we are all in need of. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness grasped it not.
31
Like many religious rituals, Advent "goes with the grain" of the seasonal cycles (though it has a particular inflection of Christians). Many thanks for this powerful reminder of the collective darkness and the potential for illumination couched within.
20
@Jane Doe or at least those of the northern hemisphere!
2
Thank you. Thank you.
Advent has been close to my heart since I was two: every night my family sat in the dark, lit the Advent candles, told stories and read prophecies from the Hebrew scriptures, and thought about the darkness and the light. We also used Advent calendars from Alternatives for Simple Living that encouraged us to think about darkness and light, justice and injustice in the world around us, and also to become aware of having more than we needed, to set aside money and volunteer time for people who might have less of some tings than they needed, and to think about the systems that gave some people more and others less. As I grew the layers of meaning embedded in this practice deepened, and sometimes darkened.
I still cherish Advent. Sometimes I am ready to celebrate the light when Christmas comes. Sometimes that's still a struggle, but having acknowledged the darkness makes it somewhat easier to turn toward the light with sincerity.
25
xmas has not only become a con for profiteers, its current iteration - indeed all its iterations - is/are based on a foundation of pagan beliefs. Those beliefs are drawn from the natural cycles of the planet, sun and moon.
5
I haven’t owned a tv in 25 years, and don’t watch it when I am not home. I definitely have a very different experience of the holiday season than many commenters here. Try unplugging or getting rid of the tv and experience the difference.
I do dip into the two “holiday” channels offered by the wonderful WQXR classical station (listen free with the app) on and off throughout the season when in the mood. They offer a great variety of classic and popular songs of the season. Listen, and if you enjoy it support them, as it is public radio.
13
I lived in Switzerland for almost 20 years and while there, sang in an Anglican church choir, so love the pomp and circumstance of the Anglican musical traditions and the German-Victorian Christmas tree. I am an atheist. Nevertheless, I set up an advent wreath to celebrate the darkening season and the turn from dark to light. We put up our tree on the 24th (as my grandparents did) - and we take it down on the 12th night and throw a 12th night party. This year however, we have decided to set the tree up on the 21st - and do our 1st candle lighting (yes, real candles on a real tree) - to celebrate the solstice. We will take the tree down on the 2nd - and that will be our 12th night. It's all magical.
15
Expectations are way too high to provide the desired lift, at the end of the year. Commercialism may have something to do with that. January 2nd is such an incredible relief.
7
I recently realized that lust for wealth and power present around us is the same Original Sin from the Garden of Eden. It manifests widely in our country and in the world. Recognizing it as such may be the needed first step in spiritually addressing it.
16
As a Muslim, I found comfort in this deeply moving and powerfully eloquent article. We strive to be happy and want fun in everything we do and every event we engage in but this wears us out because happiness and fun are not a continuum. Without sorrow, we cannot appreciate joy, without hardship, we cannot appreciate ease. Patience is a difficult virtue to practice; far easier it is to embrace the promise of unending fun and pretend that life will be all light and never any darkness. Instant gratification spur us on to further gratification, in the end leading to despair. So I understand the significance of the Advent. For us Muslims, it is the month of Ramadan, 30 days of daylong fasting when we are expected to take stock of our lives and recognize that there is sadness and brokenness in the world and in our lives, that through this spiritual cleansing we will emerge whole and appreciate the everyday miracle of things we take for granted, the gift of sight, hearing and touch and the grace of a grateful heart.
88
People understandably comment on conflicts religions have created. All true. Although the conflict is due to the corruption of the original intent of "religion", whose root is the Latin "religare": re, "again", and ligare, "to bind up or back" (ligament etc). To bind our selves to God (which is from the German for "good"), to "tie" our Selves and "unite" with Creator and Creation, with Great Mystery, with Spirit would be good and beautiful. If we ever tried it.
8
Dang. If only we could still celebrate the joy of Christmas -- even for a day -- without being overwhelmed by the "pain and wreckage" of our current world. Given the relentless daily horrors being visited on our fellow creatures and on our beloved planet -- horrors that we (and our political & religious leaders) seem incapable of addressing in any substantial way -- most people I know don't need an Advent season to remind them to lean into that "cosmic ache". It is our 24/7 way of being. The hard part is remembering how to celebrate -- or even find -- the Light.
13
beautiful thank you
8
Wonderful article. thank you for writing.
7
I always appreciate what Trish has to say; she's balanced and thoughtful. I was just talking with a friend yesterday about how I am ready for Advent this year, but I am absolutely not ready or willing to enter into the typical American Christmas hype. I need space to grieve this year for myself and all of us before I move to celebration.
11
I went to Mass yesterday anticipating a stormy and slippery Sunday. In the Catholic Church our Sunday obligation can be fulfilled on Saturday evening. I was surprised at how crowded it was as I think others had the same idea as I did.
The priest who is also the pastor spoke about Advent and lit the first candle. He gave a wonderful homily speaking about hope and the upcoming season. The music was beautiful and appropriate for this time of the year. I cannot wait to return next Sunday and celebrate the second week of Advent. And the third and fourth. It is such an important time on the Christian calendar and one to be taken seriously.
16
A Saturnalia approach to the season would bring more cheer, to the season of darkness.
3
Of course, in the southern hemisphere right now, it's moving into summer and that strikes me as a much better time to celebrate the end of year holidays than in the dreariness of winter. Christmas in Australia sounds pretty good.
4
When the holiday to celebrate the fact that the sun's slow return had now begun, we knew what we were doing. Political and religious trends may have linked that reality to all kinds of other things, but the appeal is universal.
Merry Christmas to us all. And glorious Festivus for the rest of us.
11
As a practicing Catholic, there are some things about Christianity in which I need to become more familiar. One thing that I do know about my faith is that God has always heard my prayers. Maybe not in my way but in a way he felt was best for me.
I must confess that I looked up the word Advent to get a precise definition. Advent is "the first season of the Christian Church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays." For four Sundays each week a candle is lit in Church each one representing hope, faith, joy and peace. For me, it is a time of reflection and optimism and the preparation of the birth of Jesus.
My family always put the faith part first even as a child with Christmas presents as secondary. It was Christ's day and one in which some presents were received. This to me is the true meaning of Christmas.
As I have gotten older and I would like to feel wiser, Christmas has brought on a new meaning for me. It is one of giving thanks and less about spending money on gifts that people put away in a drawer and never use. I still think it is for children to receive gifts but also learn about Jesus' birth. I love to see the awe and amazement on children's faces at this time of year.
Family is so important this time of year as it was in Jesus' time. We should put aside our differences and let bygones be bygones. This is what our Lord would want. I hope those who celebrate have a Merry Christmas and others enjoy the season too.
10
Religion may point the way, but it does not go far enough. Advent and Lent teach the lesson of human fault and fallibility.
But a few weeks of penance cannot erase the effects of the vices of greed, envy, lust, wrath, pride, despair, apathy, etc. on our own life, the life of our society or the life of the planet.
But it can point the way to accept our humanness. Not as an excuse for these shortcomings, but as a realization that these are human traits, common, to some extent, in us all. Traits that are simply should not be acceptable. Not only during Advent and Lent, but every day of the year.
4
Christmas for me has been corrupted by an obscene materialism, and this piece reminded me of the pleasure of entering a church to escape what our society has become. For me, a long lapsed catholic, and now an atheist i still value the church as a place to join with others to celebrate life events and to provide comfort in grief and misfortune. The article was a beautiful reminder of those islands of comfort and sanctuary that our religious establishments provide. They are needed as much to day as ever, though too often unappreciated.
12
Thanks for your reflection. There are many good lines in this essay, but this one, following your reference to Chesterton and the evidence for original sin, caused me to pause: "The believer and atheist alike can agree that there is an undeniable brokenness to the world, a sickness that needs remedy."
This called to mind what the Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright said in one of his many books, "Jesus was on a rescue mission."
That image of a rescue mission always appealed to me, especially since the "mission" has not yet been completed, and a review of the daily news headlines confirms that. The evidence is manifest, considering the multiple conflicts and lack of peace reported, that we are not in right relationship with ourselves (i.e., deficient in personal integrity), one another, the God so many claim to revere, and our environment.
Again, thanks for your reflection on Advent and Christmas.
21
The 30 days preceedimng Makara Sankaranti (celebrated on January 14, strictly speaking Winter solstice) are days of contemplation for HIndus, particularly in sothen India. People are urged to wake up before dawn, sing the Lord's praise. The tradition is for people to gather at a spot and walk to another spot such as a temple, singing hymns all the way, all this before dawn. Those that do join the procession come out and greet the singers as they passed their houses. I believe this practice predates the Christian era. The month is known as Dhanur masam. I have read that just as the time before the earliest light every morning (brahma muhoortham) is ideal for meditation, the month before winter solstice is ideal time for contemplation of the divine, even if one does not do it daily. The bottomline is there is a way to slow down daily and if not daily, atleast one month every year. The choice is ours. We can say no to commericialism. I refuse to give baby gifts at baby showers because I do not believe it buying baby gifts before the baby is born. Instead I give the mother to be a package of dry fruits and nuts and a shwal or a scarf, showing my support for her welfare.
8
As a non-Christian, who enjoys the Christmas tropes (the lights, the tree, the season, the 12 days, the stories), I enjoyed that the author recognized that we are so removed from the actual story that most people end Christmas on the 25th, when the Season actually begins. We are the least religious on our
Block, yet keep our lights and everything up through Epiphany, the actual 12th day of Christmas, much to the chagrin of our neighbors who have their lights, tree and everything down and removed to the garage by the 26th, largely.
Thanks for the well written article, and for the sentiment.
206
@Suzanne When I was a child living on a mostly Catholic street, outdoor decorations were put up after Thanksgiving (preferably on a mild day) but not lit up until the 3rd Sunday of Advent. And they were left up and lit until Epiphany.
38
@Suzanne
Indeed. The song "Silver Bells" has it exactly backward.
7
I am British and in my mid 40s and I’ve found it increasingly frustrating, not just how early Christmas season starts now - way before advent - but also that it seems to end for some people on the 26th! It’s only just begun! I’ve even been told I can put my tree up after Thanksgiving - I’m British, we don’t have thanksgiving so why are we starting to take on your cultural references?
We might be a lonely household in the street but we will always see the New Year in with a tree still up
34
I read the stirring article and the myriad comments. I believe "religion" is real if it comforts you; however, I don't see any comments on the nature of evil, which I believe does not exist in the abstract, but is a result of humans afflicted with Psychopathy.
It is they that perpetuate evil. To be able to solve that human aberration is the key to a better world. Give a psycopath religion and beware.
I am an atheist but love the season between Halloween and New Years; the lights, singing and the general jollity (for me) is a joy. A psychopathic religious fanatic, who considers my belief or lack of it as a affront, is the source of evil in my book.
If we can solve that problem, we can all "live in comfort and joy" and mutual respect and not take "happy holiday" as an affront.
5
I am a kid from a divorced family and Christmas was always heartbreaking for me. I have friends now who would happily play Christmas carols in July. I am trying to learn from them how to enjoy this season which is a little too extroverted for me.
Advent and Lent (the season preparing for Easter) always resonated, because they give time for slowing down and searching the depths. Where I live, most Protestant Christians don’t observe the liturgical calendar, even though is one of the treasures of Christian tradition. They don’t even celebrate the 12 days of Christmas or Epiphany (the 3 Kings’ Day). The decorations will be packed up before New Year’s.
Did you know there used to be an Epiphany season? It extended from 3 Kings’s Day and ended with Mardi Gras, just before Ash Wednesday. This Season of Light is the one I think we need most, a message of Hope.
158
@Bamagirl
What do you mean "used to" be an Epiphany season? ;)
There still is, only most churches of the Reformation don't know what to call it. Roman Catholics call it Ordinary Time, along with the time between Pentecost and Advent. Its common nickname is "the green season." It's the season against which all the other seasons contrast. And the Sundays in it are called the ___ Sunday after the Epiphany, or the ___ Sunday after Pentecost.
12
@Bamagirl
In New Orleans they know all about the Epiphany season, and that it lasts till Mardi Gras! That's why the King Cake is part of Mardi Gras festivities.
14
Too much baggage from years of Catholic education prevents my appreciation of the piece in a religious context, but a transition from the NYC area to five miles out on a Vermont dirt road over 30 years ago has provided the annual darkening of late autumn with an almost mystical solitude. On grey days, before the snow, hillsides absorb what light there is, giving us a sense of what the ancients experienced in the weeks before winter solstice. We’re focused - like our mammal neighbors - with preparing for the cold days to come....it’s 5 degrees outside right now, maybe they’re already here....we stack cords of wood, get shovels and scrapers into convenient locations and fill the freezer, just in case. Although we don’t live in a cave, we have few year round neighbors on our back road which, this time of year, has little traffic other than a few hunters. Daily walks require equipment such as Yak Tracks and hiking poles, but being out in the ever darkening landscape is an opportunity to contemplate, review the last year and face the difficult questions we encounter at the various stages of our lives. This isn’t religion but it’s as close to religion as I care to come and makes me feel better than religion ever did.
296
@walt amses I couldn't agree more! Well said.
17
@walt amses -- Excellent comment! You're absolutely right! I miss Vermont, especially in the winter, but also all year long. (West Barnet, VT)
5
@walt amses
Its even worse when you recognize this priest is part of a denomination that broke off from the Episcopal Church because it couldn't bear the thought of its queer brothers and sisters being treated equally. So all the pretty words. . . ring hollow.
19
Thank you for this beautifully written reminder of the spiritual ritual of the season. I love the description of the church adorned in sparseness and purple and the transformation into whiteness upon the holy day. It leads me to thinking why humans are so afraid of the dark? Is it that we rely on our visual senses so much that the cold & darkness correlate with what is upsetting within & around us? How does a blind person interpret the ritual of bringing light to the darkness by decorating Christmas trees with twinkling lights & lighting candles. It's also interesting from an ecological standpoint how animals evolved into either nocturnal or diurnal species. Personally I find it calming to be awake during the darkness when there is little commotion although with the modern conveniences of lamps & fireplaces. It would be wonderful to have the eyesight of an owl or bat that has excellent night vision or echolocation. Also, animals are granted the freedom and serenity not to worry about changing things that they have no power to effect as it is so often an exercise in futility and ego driven.
83
@Dunca Your comment really strikes a chord in me as I, too, enjoy being awake in the middle of the night (now that I have the luxury not to worry about working the next day.) Faiths that evolved in the cultures of more extreme latitudes, including Christianity as it moved north, have woven solstices and equinoxes into their stories and rituals.
I save more painful contemplation for literal daylight (brief as it is these days), but have always welcomed Advent as a time for collectively confronting the world’s darkness. We are by no means the only generations who have had to face dark times: the wisdom we have inherited from the past helps us keep our humanity and faith alive as the spirit groans.
9
we in Sweden know a couple of things or two about darkness. In this time of the year at 3pm is pitch dark, and in the morning its dark until 7:30ish.
We welcome the arrival of the Advent and of the Christmas season, we start putting lights everywhere in mid November and we keep them until mid January. It is so beautiful, every single window has a star, candles, lights on balconies. We face darkness together
370
@Cristina, I was in Stockholm at this time of year a few times when I was working here in NYC for a svensk fondkommission. I remember the lights in every window, mostly beautiful simple single (electric) candles. The effect is so reflective of the cooperative ethos of Swedish society. If each one does their bit something splendid can happen.
I also remember the toll the short days took on my Swedish colleagues' moods as the winter wore on. By the end of February they had about had it.
17
In the public realm.....outside of churches....Christmas has become completely secularized in America.
The secular world has finally arrived at the 'point of its final destination' concerning Christmas.
Meanwhile, I ....as a believer....will begin Advent worship today.....December 1st.
Focusing on God as the ultimate source of hope for myself....
and the World.
Or am I missing something here?
5
"Happy Holidays", "Merry Christmas", "Thanksgiving" and even "Haloween"-all nothing more than hyper-capitalism. Count me out.
2
Ah yes, words from the Anglican Church of North America, the group that split from the Episcopal church because it couldn't countenance the acceptance of its queer members. Lovely words about pain and suffering -- while it turns a blind eye.
9
Thank you. I needed this reminder.
3
Let us give thanks for Ancient Rome and learn to tolerate Modern Rome.
1
Who are 'Christians'?
Where is the 'Church'?
What is 'Christmas'?
Who is 'our' and 'we'?
2
I have a better suggestion. All NYTimes subscribers please go to the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and read Isaiah 9:2-7 It starts like this " The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned... for unto us a child is born,to us a son is given..."
3
Phoney holiday, all make believe why bother
1
Cool, country of my origins is back in the news. Seems my brethren are coming to epiphanies long after they bombed school children of their own . Perhaps the theological differences between Catholicism and Anglicans are just enough to put them into a league of stupidity all their own. Its world's AIDS day and the children still. So send a bit to UNICEF and learn to live with our sins. Happy December you all.
2
How appropriate that this article runs next to a photo of terrified Syrians we abandoned being bombed by our new apparent allies in racism, the Russians.
3
In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.
Our God, heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain,
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty —
Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom Cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom Angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.
Angels and Archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But only His Mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.
What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.
Anglican Advent hymn
10
Take what you like, and leave the rest behind.
2
Embracing the long nights of Solstice started waaaay before the Christian church. Rituals were practiced to ensure that the Sun would return to nourish the Earth once more. The Oak King conquered the Holly King and assumed his reign until Midsummer (when the Holly King would defeat him and reign until Yule in an ever repeated cycle of the Wheel of the Year).
Endarkenment has always been about looking inward, facing the least desirable aspects of ourselves and seeking a way to improve. Death was contemplated; Ancestors honored and consulted for their wisdom.
Eventually the Sun became the Son as the Christian faith became prevalent and attempted to draw pagans into their churches. So many of the Christian celebrations echo old pagan ones. And with good reason. Ritual is a touchstone in our humanity.
As Ms. Warren points out, in our rush-around world we fail to find quiet time to refresh our spirit. Our path forward is often clouded because of that. We descend into ridiculous arguments over what is a proper holiday greeting while failing to simply be kind and accept a well-meant wish for good cheer.
"I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
Hallelujah Noel be it Heaven or Hell
The Christmas we get we deserve"
'I Believe in Father Christmas', Emerson, Lake and Palmer
6
Just yesterday we set up the Advent wreath on the kitchen table and put up the Advent calendar. The "children"' are 20 and 27 and out of the house, but my wife and I will always continue to celebrate and enjoy Advent.
4
Yes, this is a time to mediate, a contemplative season. There is so much beautiful and profound Christmas music that can let a person transcend the "buy, buy" mentality of the season. Music for "the in-between times", of "watchful waiting" that allows a person to quietly ponder, in a world that doesn't allow much pondering of the mysteries of life in its rush to oblivion. To begin, listen to composer Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium.
4
@Christine, thank you for the recommendation. I'm listening to O Magnum Mysterium for the first time now, and it's perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn5ken3RJBo
Thank you for this seasonal reminder. My wife grew up in Germany and the time we have spent there during the Christmas season has always been revealing, in how they celebrate not only the joy but the doubt and fear of the growing darkness. We now celebrate Advent with both traditional and novel ways, including renaissance music and those wonderful pagan rituals of Christmas tree, wine and candles.
“joy is trivialized if we do not first intentionally acknowledge the pain and wreckage of the world.” Amen. Here’s wishing everyone a time of reflection and understanding.
9
Yes. Yes. Just yes. In our culture, we have done all we can to bolt the doors against the grief that is a natural part of the circle of life and this being human. It has caused us great harm, as the cultural practices of more - more money, more things, more happiness, have because a force that has not only hollowed out lives, but has decimated the natural world to the extent that our very survival is in question.
Sitting with the darkness of life - the death, the decay, the losses, the lack of control in what others do and how the world responds - allows us to metabolize it, to make peace with it, and thus, to find within us the energy and hope to go forward.
It takes an enormous effort to hold our grief at bay. It doesn't work anyway. When we give it the space, respect and acceptance of its reality, we can digest it and harness our energies to create a world defined by hope and love. It has never been more necessary than now.
6
Christmas is for kids. Grown-ups could "try" to appreciate the wonderfulness of the tree in their yard or the Big Dipper when you look skyward at night. Mankind is really nothing more than a sophisticated man-animal who is too successful at hunting and gathering. This is not evil- it is a fact of evolution. We will get our turn at populating the planet until things just get "too crowded".
And then we will simply eliminate one another. G_d may have wanted us to prosper, or maybe "he" just doesn't care. We had our chance to "just get along" but we didn't. Hopefully the tree in my yard will go on living in spite of everything...
36
Wonderfully insightful ! The notion of Advent is predated in northern Europe by millennia of so called 'pagan' rites that prepare body and psyche, individual and community for the hardships of winter. It is the 'going down' time. A time when our ancestors gathered together to share warmth and comfort. A time when the fear of the departing sun was tangible And a time of uncertain hope that the new life of a sun-fuelled spring will emerge from the darkness.
It was a time of respite and reflection. We need to remember this!
8
Thank you, Rev. Warren. I grew up Catholic and attended Catholic school, and although I am now a "retired" Catholic, the rituals and seasons of the Church are still meaningful to me. We did compromise, of course, with decorations, parties, and pageants at school before the holiday but we were also reminded daily of why the world needed Jesus to be born.
I have yet to hear of a culture that doesn't celebrate the return of light at the winter solstice, and even for non-Christians, the birth of a baby is an enduring symbol of hope and joy. These days my beliefs are pretty much on the same page as those of the British religious historian and thinker Karen Armstrong, whose new book I hope to find under my tree!
3
When I came to this country 28 years ago, I was astonished that, as religious as it seemed, none of my friends and co-workers had heard of the Advent season and rituals like the Sunday candle-lighting. Growing up in "East Germany", everyone I knew celebrated it. We had the evergreen wreaths, lit a candle on each of the four Sundays, ending up with four of them a few days before Christmas Eve. I remember those Sundays as quiet, reflective, but mostly as family time. We would bake cookies and pies and inviting others for coffe/tea. There were walks in the blistering cold, hours of reading books, visits at Grandma's, and, of course, the Christmas markets opened on December 1. Ours were not the commercial, overwhelmingly noisy kind. We did have ferris wheels and booths with food and mulled wine but also booths for the kids to make handcrafted gifts. On December 5th every kid shined their leather boots and put them outside the front door so St. Nikolaus would fill them with candy, fruit and little toys during the night. I could go on and on.
To this day, the time of Advent is my favorite time of year, and I find it rather sad that so many people do not seem to be able to slow down, reflect and spend time with family but instead stress themselves into oblivion with endless shopping or other perceived must-dos during this time of year.
Thank you for the article!
11
Perfect. Just what I needed. Thank you.
5
From the bottom of my sad heart, thank you for this essay.
I wasn’t raised in a particular religious tradition. My family of origin was merely culturally Christian, and we celebrated Christmas and Easter in typical American ways—with lights and trees, bunnies and reindeer, cookies and eggs. As an adult, I have neither religion nor kids of my own as a reason to sustain even secular traditions, and I’ve let them go.
But as the years pass, Christmastime leaves me feeling more empty and melancholy. It’s not just the reckoning at the end of another hard, small, mean year. I feel a dissonance. The natural earthly season is quiet and dark—shorter days and longer nights, withering leaves and bare branches, clouds hiding the sun and the stars—while the human holiday season is bright and loud and frantic in whoop-de-doo and dickery dock (as the song goes).
While of course I’d heard of Advent, I frankly didn’t know what it entailed or what it meant. I didn’t know a season of sadness and reflection was available in Christianity. So thank you, Ms. Warren, for introducing me to Advent, a concept I feel intuitively but now can explore intellectually and perhaps spiritually.
11
The celebration of Christmas borrows much from much older Celtic traditions and the celebration of the Solstice which hinges upon the recognition of darkness turning towards the light. For me it is more basic to the circle of life in which we all participate not only Christians but everyone and everything making up this world.
I love Paul Winter's concerts at St. John Cathedral due to happen up town due to happen in a few weeks. Glorious and moving.
6
Oh, this brings back fond memories of my younger days. Throughout my school years, right through college, I was Catholic educated. Amidst my eagerness - indeed, impatience - for that day of wonder and gift giving, there was always that solemnity of awaiting Christ's birth. There was that tradition of the nativity scene, little statues and a stable beneath our fresh-cut Christmas trees, reminding us of what this holiday and holy day was all about. We of course knew what Jesus's fate on Calvary would eventually be; but nevertheless, there was an aura of hope during Advent which culminated in the awesome ritual of Midnight Mass. As I reach older age, perhaps I have become a bit jaded in my outlook of life and certainly my thoughts and opinions have changed re organized religion. Yet, Advent and Christmas Day are now part of my DNA providing me with the hope and love needed to carry me through this odyssey of life.
5
Thank you for this poetic op-ed. As a former Catholic, now an atheist, I appreciate its sentiments as they reflect our secular existence especially. One doesn't have to believe in the Christ Child's coming to recognize the ancient sense of solstice at this time, the darkness beckoning us to turn inward. What I fear is how our culture has negated a season of quiet reflection and replaced it with the nightmare of consumer mania. How very tragic and perhaps even worse than tragic: a sign of our world's demise at our own hands.
12
I have tolerance for all faiths, recognizing that even with the most extreme mutations of faith, according to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 97% of believers are moderates. However, I am unaffiliated from religion because I have interacted with those radical 3% far too often. Still, I am interested in the philosophy and history of religion because I believe knowing these topics helps prepare me for the world we live in.
3
Thank you! The essay makes me a bit sad. I did grow up in a home and church which moved intentionally through Advent. Even at home we had an Advent wreath & readings every evening at supper; we had an Advent calendar (the religious kind, not the commercial nonsense which spends a month jacking kids up about what they will get). I too loved the season.
As a Presbyterian minister I saw to it that the 4 churches I served also moved through that lovely church season despite calls from some to sing Christmas carols right from Thanksgiving. Sadly, many churches have succumbed to the culture. I am retired now. The church I attend will surely be singing "O Come, All Ye Faithful" this morning and speaking of the "Advent/Christmas season" as if each did not have a distinct identity. The traditional Advent readings will not be heard; the traditional Christian messages about living in "the in-between times," of "watchful waiting" etc., will not be preached. The church now follows the mall/culture. No wonder it becomes less and less meaningful.
209
@Anne-Marie Hislop
Maybe time to find another congregation, Anne-Marie?
9
@Anne-Marie Hislop I too love the Advent season. My (Presbyterian) congregation began this morning singing O Come O Come Emmanuel (a 1000+ year-old text with a tune based on ancient plainchant) and hearing the forward-looking prophesy of Isaiah, proclaiming something we still long for, the vision of nations "beating swords into plowshares".
I'm a symphony musician so very soon my days and nights will be filled with various holiday pops concerts and many (many many) Nutcracker ballet performances. I will enjoy serving my community this way. But alongside all this busyness, the intentional pauses and the quiet "waiting" of Advent that culminates in the Christmas eve service at church, make the season deeply meaningful to me.
To everyone celebrating this season, whatever your faith tradition, I hope you will find your holy pauses.
27
Although I don't attend church anymore, and don't really remember much about Advent from when I did, as a child, I found this essay moving. I actually love the early darkness of this time of the year, love the cold air and bright stars as I take the dog on her evening walk. And I love the winter solstice, because I know then the days begin getting longer again.
I am fortunate to have a large and loving family, so I look forward to the joy of being together at Christmas and New Years. I absolutely loathe the commercialism, however, and the endless "buy, buy, buy!!" and imagery that is designed to make people spend money they might not have, in the mistaken belief that the things being purchased will make them happier. That is the only thing about the holiday season that makes me sad.
This essay has inspired me to spend more time with the TV off this December. Rather than deal with the inundation of advertising and bad news, I'll try to fill my evenings more thoughtfully and productively, and try to carry that forward into the new year.
Thank you, Ms. Warren.
109
Tish, I spent years in Catholic seminary, eventually left for love, and now have 5 children. Through those years, and with the onslaught of diversions society offers, I've felt distanced from the liturgical cycle. Your article revives my heart to these important rhythms that are important containers for us to explore ourselves. I'm glad I read your article today. I still have time to find 3 purple and 1 pink candles. More importantly, to slow down.
139
Thank you for this lovely reflection.
I always look forward to Advent as the beginning of the church year, right on the heels of Thanksgiving.
I put up the Christmas tree but I also set up Advent candles--three purple and one pink--on the dining room table and light them Sunday evenings in preparation for Christmas day.
76
Generally speaking, there is not a lot of space in our society for calm sadness and quiet reflection. These things do not generate profits. I am glad that this article recognizes this systemic problem.
But I think it would also be useful to apply that same thinking to Christmas Day itself. For children it should be a joyous, cheerful day, but for adults it makes sense that it should be more reflective and bittersweet. After all, how could we not help but think about Christmases past, the passage of time, and loved ones who are no longer with us?
Best that we not brush this under the rug and instead acknowledge this sadness. This sadness is perhaps uncomfortable, but it is, above all else, real. We become better people in the end for acknowledging it and learning to live with it.
In short, I think Christmas is supposed to be a little sad, too, and that's okay! :)
85
@Kevin Very well said! I've always thought there was something wrong with me because I always feel more melancholy and nostalgic on Christmas Day, and the days leading up to it, than I do joyous. It's okay to not always be filled with joy! Gratitude, yes. And that doesn't come from a bunch of "stuff". I've switched to giving "experiences" as gifts - tickets to the theater, gift certificates for an art class, etc.
15
Advent is preparation for the coming of the Lord culminating in His nativity at at Christmas. Lent is preparation for His coming again at the end of time. Both are times to contemplate the promise of Christ's light to lead us out of the darkness through His birth and resurrection.
3
Love is radiant and universal. I don't need any Jesus fables or self-appointed clergy in pretentious robes and "holier than thou" clerical collars to tell me to embrace either darkness or light.
3
@Barking Doggerel
Read the article again. She didn’t ask anything of you! She reflected on her world view, a powerful one I might add as you can see from the other comments.
2
@Barking Doggerel
And what do you mean "self-appointed clergy"? Ms. Warren is an Episcopal priest; she was appointed (i.e. called, ordained) by the Episcopal Church or some similar church body.
1
Thank you for this. I watched my neighbors put up their gushing and blinking Christmas decorations yesterday and felt heartsick.
4
The author seems to regret that we are broken, but that is the whole point. We are in transit from being apes to being something clearly better. So far the results are mixed, but that is how change works.
The Pauline cult of Jesus is pernicious. It is where Christianity went wrong. Jesus will not save us. We have to save ourselves. If there is to be a messiah it must be us.
11
"[L]eaning into the reality of human tragedy and of my own need and brokenness..." Wow. Can't believe I just read this article- so needed for decades. Meaningful that church altars are covered with purple this time of year. That color where the red of fire and the blue of ice meet and find rest. The pervasive mania that this writer describes, I believe, is very human search for "grace", a givenness of an inner peace. As Mavis Staples sings, "Everybody's lookin' for love and trust." I live in a rural area of an American island in the Caribbean. When I travel to the States it seems to me that people are insane: go, do, gain, have, rush. More! No, it isn't easy to get off the treadmill. Even here. The Advent time for this author is opportunity. May I suggest just stopping. Unless it'll cause a real problem, just stop. Stop. Knees slightly bent, relaxed and grounded (tree-like) and simply take 4 breaths.(Four being number of stability, like the 4 legs of a table, 4 walls of a room, 4 directions, etc.) Witness your thoughts and energy of your mind- body as it processes your aversions & desires. Witness with mercy and kindness. Without judgment. Christians may call this resting in Christ-Self, the self who witnesses your human condition with compassion. A year-round moment of Advent. Yes, I have a small Christmas tree, decorated with tiny blue & silver Xmas bulbs, butterflies & Carnival beads. But I keep it up year-round, on top of my fridge, to help me face the dark, year round.
13
“We need collective space, as a society, to grieve — to look long and hard at what is cracked and fractured in our world and in our lives.”
Agreed. But I ask: how much of the cracking and fracturing is caused by religion in the first place?
8
True. Although the conflict is due to the corruption of the original intent of "religion", whose root is the Latin, "religare" re, "again", and ligate, "to bind up or back". (See ligate, ligament...) To bind our selves to God (which is from the German for "good"), to "tie" our selves and "unite" with Creator & Creation, with the Great Mystery, would be a good & beautiful thing.
1
Ah, let us together conjure the ghost of Wallace Stevens, "Death is the mother of beauty". Between Christmas and Easter, Taoism and Christianity converge.
5
I think of advent as the styrofoam rectangle with pieces of plastic fake pine stuck all around the edges, red and purple short, fat candles one each corner with a nativity set in the middle. The cradle is empty until Christmas day when magically the baby Jesus is there when we woke up in the morning. It was in the middle of the round table we children ate supper at every evening.
Even though I hated looking at it, what it conjures for me now are the scent of real pine and frankincense, afternoons baking cookies, and thinking up and making gifts my family would really want. I still have these traditions in my life, with out the styrofoam, but I think it is because I don't have a family so I don't have the manic, cynical 24/7 holiday mayhem of Home Alone, and the Grinch staring Jim Carey setting the tone.
The only strain to keep my advent long Christmas Spirit is a work schedule that forbids time off to savor the darkness. More than anything else, I believe relentless work demands even on the most menial of jobs combined with ever stingier paid time off is what is killing us not just physically but our souls as well.
82
Thank you. I needed to hear this. I wish more readers of this newspaper took time to read and reflect on these words. They deserve more comment. It is indeed a time to ponder our sins and think hard how to make amends.
14
Well, yes. But. Yesterday I discussed with my husband and daughter the oddity of a Christian celebrating Thanksgiving. God has given us so much, etc. etc. Let's not look at the rest of humanity struggling for food and shelter. Let us not ask the fundamental question, why so much for some and so little for others? The same applies to Xmas. Such celebration after either a contemplative advent or a month of shopping and parties. As long as you have been born a winner: first world, healthy, free, and so on. I think of the season as " the feast of the holy child, " any child who is born and has the potential for love and joy and world-changing possibility. But as soon as one introduces an omnipotent and loving creator into the mix, I get stuck on the injustice and downright cruelty seen every day. I cannot accept a god, any god, let's some eat to obesity while multitudes starve.
11
Philip Larkin had already used the phrase "Christmas-addict" as early as 1954, and what we see does look like addiction: the twitchy and the sad being fed an increasingly gaudy and out-of-season supply of yuletide buzz by cynical commercial interests. When some plead, "But I just love Christmas and I don't want to wait," I see the need for instant gratification. It sounds a lot like, "I can stop whenever I want to."
6
Now I have a name for what I’ve been feeling for a while: the obvious brokenness of this world juxtaposed with awareness of God’s compassion and the scriptural lesson that the healing is already completed. It’s a conundrum. The dichotomy is Advent.
6
Thank you for this. A small space here in a too often hostile Gray Lady (reflecting the demographics of its core readers) for a thoughtful commentary on the commercialization of Christmas, and the banality of "we must have fun, fun, fun".
Advent is, for Anglicans/Episcopalians and Roman Catholics (perhaps other Christian traditions too) the time of reflection and anticipation. We reflect on the darkness of our broken world and in some cases our broken spirits or broken health. As Christians of a liturgical tradition we mark this time with songs of anticipation and repentance, four candles in a circle of purple or in the Catholic church one of pink in the mix.
I'm glad Rev. Harrison-Warren mentioned the right time for jolliness which is the twelve days of Christmas starting on the day itself. Let the secular material world have its faux "Christmas" which honesty would require calling Winter Holiday celebration.
10
@Unworthy Servant
"Advent is, for Anglicans/Episcopalians and Roman Catholics (perhaps other Christian traditions too) the time of reflection and anticipation."
You bet other Christian traditions have Advent. Here's what Wikipedia says:
"Advent is the beginning of the Western liturgical year. In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, the Western Rite of the Orthodox Church, and in the Anglican, Lutheran, Moravian, Presbyterian, and Methodist calendars, Advent commences on the fourth Sunday before Christmas—the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day (30 November). It can fall on any date between 27 November and 3 December. When Christmas Day is a Monday, Advent Sunday will fall on its latest possible date.[5] In the Ambrosian Rite and the Mozarabic Rite of the Catholic Church, Advent begins on the sixth Sunday before Christmas, the Sunday after St. Martin's Day (11 November)."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent
Beautiful. Thank you for writing this.
18
Advent when I was a child 60 years ago was purple as the author says and we as kids every Sunday at our Catholic Church would go over to te manger at the church and look for baby Jesus, then Christmas morning there he was! it was wonderful and joyful and me and my brothers and sister had grandparents, great aunts and family over for dinner etc. It was a magical time, snow in upstate NY, ice skating, etc.. So I was indoctrinated into he 'holiday season' I didn't do this for my sons. Why? because religion is the GREAT LIE started because our ancestors couldn't explain why things occurred so they made up a supernatural being to pay homeage to. I despair every day at events occurring with my country and the world so I don't need Advent to remind me or to be reflective on the darkness. Christmas is just for kids and to celebrate the end of the year and the new year, I can say I miss advent but I was a 1950s 60s 70s victim of catholicism and all that was horrible about it that has come out so this may have tainted me and turned me away from religion.
6
I see that the Comments section is fighting its own holy war. May it stay on the page. Based on my learning and experiences, I am in the Advent faction. This does not mean that I haven’t respected religious rituals of other faiths wherever encountering them. I only get grumpy in the way some of the commenters demonstrate if you try to foist your beliefs or non-beliefs on me.
10
As a past church musician, I was always ready for the comments that the music in advent was too sad, and why couldn't we sing Jingle Bells instead? My reply was that the Light wasn't here yet so we'd have to wait. That was years ago, and this article reminds me of having to explain Advent, over and over, to critics of the music. And things have gotten worse it seems. People want to sing Jingle Bells on Halloween now!
13
While I was reading this, I was reminded that the early Christian Church, in one of its many efforts to get pagans to convert, simply put one of its major holidays at the end of December so that pagans thinking of converting wouldn't have to give up their own Winter Solstice celebrations, such as the German Yule and ancient Roman Saturnalia.
According to the carols, Jesus was most likely really born in the Spring, not in December; hence the references to shepherds watching their flocks, and lambs. The more you look into it, the more interesting it is.
8
I grew up in the wake of the holocaust. My Dad had to change his obviously-Jewish name in order to get a job. I find it hard to just forget all that and respond in a reasonable way to Christmas or even to religion itself. I'm culturally Jewish but not observant. My parents taught me that if God were real, He or She would not have allowed the holocaust, slavery, lynchings, wars for profit and other horrific events to happen. I feel the mystery of the spiritual but for me, it is not defined by any traditional religion. What I do feel during this season is overwhelmed by the cheer of Christmas that is impossible to escape and since I have kids and grandkids, I bought more than I can afford for this season. I do feel the darkness but not in the way this article describes. Fortunately, I also see the light shining through in the faces of those I love.
33
Advent could be a very interesting time for depth filled life reorientation. It was taken by the church from pagan religions and intertwined with Christology and its own mythmaking. Christmas was chosen as the date to (once again) appropriate the feast of Saturnalias on December 25. The feast of Dt Lucy is another example of this. Joy filled, fun , and really how can one complain? The other facet which is not much noted anywhere is the perfect alignment of the liturgical year with Mary. The Annunciation in March and oh yes the birth in December. Go figure that intervention out.
Also in some countries , Little Christmas Is more celebrated the Christmas because other cultures and people were invited into the story.
Although probably outdated Anthony Padavano’s “Dawn Without Darkness” is a good book to peruse during this time.
And although many Roman Catholic folks use this in their home school Mary Reed Newland’s “ The Year And Our Children has some delightful Advent activities. They might not realize this but it is an old book. Mary’s mother was a physician and her grandmother helped raise her. One of her daughters’s became an UU Minister.
Kathleen Norris is another old but good source for this time. May we all have a light in the window this season for anyone in need of help stranger or otherwise.
7
@Mary OMalley
During Saturnalia, Roman slaves received gifts from their masters, whom they were allowed to mock and insult. Then, it was back to business as usual. The Roman Catholic church is the remnant of the Roman Empire. Without it, hardly anyone would speak Latin.
I've been "un-churched" for years. If hauled into court, there would not be enough evidence to convict me of being Christian. But the Episcopal Church is a huge, formative part of my cultural heritage, the liturgical calendar exerts influence on my emotional tides as much as the Moon does on the sea, and I miss Advent.
28
Go to your local episcopal church and experience Advent. I agree, it’s unbelievably beautiful and moving. Advent hymns are the best (besides Lent hymns).
It’s ok if you’re an atheist. As an episcopalian myself, I promise you won’t be the only non-believer there.
All are welcome at God’s table. It doesn’t matter what your definition of God is, or if you have no definition at all.
11
@EmilyB
Seconding and thirding this invitation!
2
@Margareta This isn't from an Episcopalian. This is from a clergy member of a denomination that broke off from the Episcopalians, because they couldn't abide a full welcome of their queer sisters and brothers.
How about we "assign blame" to the nature of Humans? And not all the outside of that nature "others". That we - as this piece asks, look within ourselves, and stop looking for outside "others" who cause pain, and horror to other humans. We Humans. Always. No outsiders to blame.
The World isnt broke...its Humans who are infinitely flawed and too often prone to extremely bad behaviors. All the Religious tropes, all the rituals, all the tenets...all of it point to the flawed human. Doesn't matter if the Religion has a "Devil" or not, we're the ones who sin, or misbehave.
Introspection is great thing, and I agree with the author, its woefully lacking in American Xtian practice. Which is at the heart of the problems with American Xtians in general. The Practice has been abandoned. Practice, means an ongoing effort to become better, but never fulfilled as perfect in an endeavor. All athletes practice. All musicians, and artists of all kinds practice their craft. People of faith need to practice.
But in the more modern version of American Xtianity, mostly in the Proty sects, especially the Evangelical sects, practice has been replaced by absolutism. By declaration of Personal Salvation, that moves the Believer out of the states of practice into the singular realm of Achieved.
As such ongoing, even seasonal Introspection is shoved aside. All one need do is go to a "Name It and Claim it!" event, and declare ones Salvation as now accomplished. The Practice is abandoned.
15
@Boregard . . . and as I understand it, the idea of Salvation was brought to play when Luther nailed his tenants on the church door that basically said the priesthood was not needed as an intermediary for common folks to make contact with the god-head. How corrupted Luther would feel today I wonder? But we got the printing press out the whole thing and that meant people could read the Bible for themselves without a priest.
@mouseone. yes, but. Salvation was always the goal. Luther just brought it completely home to the Believer. He denied the rituals and buying of indulgences, etc. (of the RCC) as being irrelevant to salvation. Personal Faith was the only route. No amount of good deeds would alleviate ones lack of faith. He introduced but another form of absolutism. Absolute Faith is the only way to receive Gods grace. No works, nothing but faith.
No doubt, Luther would be appalled by modern American xtians and their doctrines. He'd be nailing their doors shut, not just attaching some screeds.
3
Atheist here. I nearly went and complained to the manager of my grocery store when another maudlin Christmas song began playing, well before Halloween. Why must everyone--Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jain, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Pagan, and Atheist alike--be subjected to this for close to two months? The crass consumerism of it ought to conflict with the conscience of anyone who claims to care about core Christian concerns. I do appreciate the writer's view that we embrace a more reflective posture as we await renewal with the coming of the light, and I don't mean the ruddy nose of Rudolph bearing more retail refuse into our homes, only to diffuse toxically through our air and water and future.
31
@Vince
It's like being trapped in an escapist fantasy!
@Vince
love this sentence - great line - Thanks !
"I do appreciate the writer's view that we embrace a more reflective posture as we await renewal with the coming of the light, and I don't mean the ruddy nose of Rudolph bearing more retail refuse into our homes, only to diffuse toxically through our air and water and future."
1
@Vince : Most serious Christians hate the idea of “Christmas” stretching into Halloween. It’s not so much a sign of aggressive religiosity as it is a sign of retailers’ desperation in a society where the poor can’t afford to buy things, the rich can already obtain everything they need or want at any time of the year, and the middle class is worried about falling into poverty.
Ms. Warren writes, "The believer and atheist alike can agree that there is an undeniable brokenness to the world, a sickness that needs remedy. Whether we assign blame to human sinfulness, a political party, corporate greed, ignorance, tribalism or nationalism (or some of each), we can admit that things are not as they should be — or at least, not as we wish they were." I am neither a believer nor an atheist, and I note that Reverend Warren did not include dogma, religious dogma in particular, in her blame list. The light I look forward to will start to manifest on the solstice, December 21. Every year, I acknowledge the slowing down and perhaps inner darkness or withdrawal I feel when shorter days begin to limit my evening outdoor recreational activities. We are designed to respond to circadian rhythms. And, many ancient festivals did indeed celebrate the return of the sun's light. I was raised Roman Catholic around Advent wreathes and Advent calendars and on some level, I felt energized by the metaphor and ritual, an energy I was warned could disappoint because anticipation can be greater than realization. Today, I wonder what our world would look like if we accepted the world as it is while responding to it without doing harm to anyone one day at a time all year round.
7
While beautifully written, I object to the description of a "pointless argument" when it comes to saying Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas. As a Jewish person, December can often feel like an assault on my place in this country. Christianity is not the state religion, and insisting on Merry Christmas as the norm for greetings all of December is pushy and inconsiderate to those who do not celebrate. Wishing Happy Holidays could refer to Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or the Solstice, making it inclusive to many more people. On December 24 and 25, of course I will wish someone a Merry Christmas if they say it to me, but it should not be the norm for a month. Moreover, this attitude should not be dismissed as pointless.
36
@Isabella
Once somebody wished me "Happy Chanukah" - a holiday, or holy day (the root of the word holiday, of course) that I had never celebrated, and that he knew I didn't celebrate. I immediately felt warmth and gratitude towards him. I'd be happy if more people sought to include others in their holy days.
15
@Isabella I am not criticizing you. I live and teach in deep red country. I like to tell my students that as long as someone is not being mean, I try not to take offense. I know this is different from what you're saying, but I do agree that usually the argument is "pointless," if we see argument as moving anyone from one way of thinking than another. And, of course, the root word of holiday is HOLY Day. May yours be happy and holy.
4
@Isabella Likewise, "Happy Holidays" is not an attack on Christmas, as many self-described Christian dogmatists seem to believe. I am hoping Reverend Warren meant that people arguing against the greeting "Happy Holidays" have a pointless argument.
5
Thank you so much for this wonderful essay. As an Episcopal church musician, the season of Advent is one of my very favorites. I will be thinking of you today as we celebrate the first Sunday. I look forward to reading your book. May God bless you and your ministry!
27
I was feeling very glum this morning about the prospect of the coming holiday. Your article gave me hope, inspiration and a plan; make Advent meaningful and spread some light. During the next 25 days I will find ways to do good for others. I will dust off my Advent wreath and when I light my candle each evening it will mean something
34
My Advent traditions are similar but they begin alone, silent in a dark living room. It is a time of reflection and hope; reflection on the beauty that it's around me and part in it, and hope that I might be able to appreciate it despite the worries of daily life.
On Solstice a single candle burns beside a tableau of woodland and barnyard creatures. And my new year started with the return of the light.
14
A lovely essay. Thank you for writing this.
29
I grew up in a Catholic home where lighting the candles on the Advent wreath, one more each week, was a beloved ritual. When we got to the fourth one, it was Christmas! At my Catholic college, the Advent season was a reflective, anticipatory period that flowed along with final exams and papers and bore the promise of being home for the holidays. As adults with our own young family, we celebrated Advent with our son, and my parents (now gone) encouraged visits during the festive week between Christmas and New Years. I am no longer a practicing Catholic, but I still relish the anticipation of the season.
18
While this letter is a beautiful explanation of the true meanings of Advent and Christmas to Christians, by dismissing the pre-Christmas decorations and celebrations, the author ignores that two totally different events are being celebrated under the name of "Christmas." Much of what passes for "Christmas" has its roots predominantly in the even older Winter Solstice celebrations of Northern Europeans. While Jesus most likely was born in the summer, the early church opted to observe His birth at a time when peoples they were trying to convert already had a celebration of light, thereby initiating the commingled celebrations we experience today.
Why not celebrate the Solstice, with it's primal meaning that darkness is ending and light will return? But please, let us strive to separate this secular observance from Advent and the religious Christmas. The Winter Solstice/"Christmas" can be a celebration which brings everyone together regardless of religious convictions, with the spectacular lights, frenetic entertaining, over the top gift giving, and ubiquitous Santa, along with New Year's resolutions and other symbols of renewal, as part of this celebration, if people so choose. At the same time, let Advent and Christmas be restored as specifically religious observances, without reindeer in the crèche.
13
A beautiful meditation on Advent. Celebrating this in the Christian Reformed Church was a highlight of my childhood, I couldn’t wait to light one of the candles marking each Sunday. We would all do well to make serious time in our lives and contemplate both the darkness and light.
16
"O come, O come, Emmanuel..."
This hymn always began Advent for me as it was always sung first in the Episcopal church I once attended.
"The believer and atheist alike can agree that there is an undeniable brokenness to the world, a sickness that needs remedy."
This atheist agrees. But I still believe that the Advent season, whether one is a Christian or not, is the time of reflection and making a decision on how we intend to face the following year.
29
"Historically, Advent, the liturgical season that begins four Sundays before Christmas Day, is a way to prepare our hearts (and minds and souls) for Christmas. For Christians, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ birth....
To practice Advent is to lean into an almost cosmic ache"
I am not Christian and far be it from me to argue with an Anglican priest and her cosmic ache, but there were many elements missing from this essay, e.g. the Second Coming (i.e. messianism), the preaching of John the Baptist as preparation for the coming of Jesus, John the Baptist and the joy of the coming of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In the East there is an element of fasting which there apparently was also in the West originally. Only penitence remains of that. There are different colors associated with different aspects of Advent and musical traditions in keeping with changing and shifting moods.
But if the Reverend Warren prefers "collective space, as a society, to grieve — to look long and hard at what is cracked and fractured in our world and in our lives," that is fine with me.
7
Need this this A.M. Woke up with the feeling, "it's December 1st, time to be happy," but couldn't bring myself to feel so after an especially hard month. Grief, like happiness, is a scared feeling. I wish we were taught to embrace it, both individually and communally.
35
Thank you for a larger perspective. I'm always looking for it. That's the beauty of this writing. The message is beyond religion. It is about truth and reality.
Made my day.
36
I’ve never been very religious but always enjoyed the cheer and fellowship inspired by the season. Since my father died a number of years ago now on Christmas Eve I’ve come to dread the holiday. I’ll be happy after the new year begins when it’s all over.
6
Thank you for this. Every year, the advertising and pre-Christmas commercial hysteria gets worse. Thank you again!
19
Very well said. Watching, waiting, listening - these are vital in an accelerated world.
45
Thank you so much for your beautiful explanation of Advent and the Christmas season.
I am Jewish, but now better appreciate how looking inward and looking deep into the darker sides is and should be the focus of this time of year. It’s therapeutic and can bring such restoration.
Thank you!
43
I agree that the way we celebrate Christmas is backwards. During the weeks leading up to Dec 25, we’re juggling preparations with parties, concerts, and for some, end-of-year pressures at school and work. Instead, we should be holding those holiday tours of homes, Messiah sing-alongs and cookie swaps the week between Christmas and New Year’s, when most people have extra time and the pressure is off. Make Christmas Day the splashy kick-off to a festive week for community.
24
We could use more Advent and less Christmas. Life is fast paced and loud enough without the visual and aural blare of some merchant's idea of Christmas sales events starting as soon as the ghosts of Halloween go back in the basement til next year.
The run up to Christmas can also be seen as rest from the work year and preparation for the end of year celebration. I wish it was later in January when we could really use a party.
22
I am going to trample some sensitivities here. The bible is pretty much a work of fiction; and "christmas" never happened! The timing of the celebration of "christmas" was tied to the Roman Saturnalia, with nods to the Celtic Beltain fires of midwinter.
There is no biblical 'original sin' (see above) but yes there is an inherent nastiness in people. The "seven deadlies" are based on that - a small snippet of wisdom.
Advent is hard to place as an adopted pagan rite, so it is possibly a fully 'christian' concoction - to set people up for the guilt trips of medieval worship.
There is a 'darkness' but it is ignorance and superstition, and the oppression it brings to the world.
78
@Philip Brown
There are times when I share your sentiments Mr. Brown. And your historical points have some merit, but from a perspective of unbelief, to which you are entitled and which I do not begrudge you.
But I read the Scriptures, and while they have been mightily abused by many, they are not a work of fiction. Also, and to the point of this article, is that the Scriptures do not negate science nor the fact that many people believe in superstitions that harm themselves and others. In fact, they are replete with examples of just that, and point to the horrible consequences of turning away from truth: we are not the center of the universe, and we do have a substantial propensity for inherent nastiness.
Lost in the criticism and commercialism of
Christmas, the cultural falseness of greed and illusions of nostalgia, there lies a truth in facing hopelessness: we cannot find a lasting and true peace on our own. At least I know I can’t.
We need each other, and I accept your understanding of life and you. But honest examination of life tells me we need more than that and the best answer I have found is contained in the hope of Christmas: there is a personal God, and he does care for both you and I and our most profound hopes and fears for our lives.
Many have accepted this
63
@Philip Brown
The Church maintained some semblance of light in the dark ages when churches were the repository of records, writings and educated men. Christ promised eternal light and life. I think enough time has passed for the churches of the world to shoulder aside the ancient Roman beliefs and become important on their own with their own interpretations of our seasonal holidays.
There are many stories and beliefs about our world, strongly held, believed by many and so far, easily called fiction for lack of proof. The bad actors use the fiction to prey upon people. It's a human thing and will be forever. It's also human to look for the good in life offered by our many belief systems and act accordingly.
21
@Philip Brown, yes-yes-yes, but Rev. Warren's meditation on the season can give shape to anyone's experience of the year. Atheists and Jews and Muslims, any sort of non-Christians, really -- all these can gather at (or near) Christmas, even if it's not to celebrate the birth of a savior. The whole world can join in welcoming the winter with tidings of comfort and joy that may mitigate fear of the coming hellacious weather and gasp-inducing home heating bills. This is not a problem in the Southern Hemisphere, of course. Y'all might could go through this process at the Lenten run-up to Easter. In any case, I see nothing wrong in celebrating a holiday ("holy-day") whose timing is based on the ancient civilizations of Western Europe. The Romans got a lot of things very seriously wrong, but taking on the rites and celebrations and beliefs of the civilizations they conquered was not among these. On the contrary. (Plus, they sure built some very seriously durable roads.)
22
"We need communal rhythms" is true, but impossible to experience, for, as an atheist, I watch the war that Christianity has waged against our pagan world and see the wreckage as real, and the religion itself as dangerous.
It isn't Christmas, which the dictionary on my iMac says is a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus, it is a traditional time of peace and quiet as winter comes across the land, at least in my land.
So if I don't celebrate the fiction that is the life of the mythical character Jesus, in the exhausting nonsense of the cult that forces many to bend a knee to some human centered collection of myths, than I am an outcast. In many communities that is the absolute truth, to be a declared atheist is to be shunned.
You cannot at once label this time "Christmas", then ask for communal rhythms.
Hugh
47
@Hugh Massengill
You can make life easier for yourself, if you want to, by being less militantly atheist.
I've nealy been tgere most of my life and I'm fine with it. I don't wear a tshirt proclaiming it because it's really nobody's business but mine.
That being said I enjoy the holidays. Even the religious ones like Christmas and Easter. Not for the religious aspect but for the fun of Easter eggs and candy and Christmas trees, decorations and presents.
But I say enjoy your live and live it anyway you please.
What I do when friends, family or acquaintances try to guilt me or force their religion on me is smile, shrug and say that's what makes horse racing. Then I change the subject or walk away. It works if you don't engage in their power play.
9
@Butterfly Rationality is not militant atheism. I love many aspects of the coming season, but the aggressive imposition of Christianity on my secular nation is not among them.
5
@Barking Doggerel
That's you.
I was commenting on how I reviewed Hugh's comment.
To each his own.
2
This is so Pittsburgh that it hurts. My childhood and growing. As an adult I realized that life was richer with a liturgical calendar and a regular calendar. This article explains how to live it very well. Thanks for printing it.
36
Thanks for the insightful reflection on the pre-Christmas period, whether practiced as a religious community or individually (or even in a secular way). "Advent" provides a much needed parallel world of quietness and inwardness to all the noise and bright circus like lights and induced fake Christmas or holiday spirit going on around us. It's exhausting to hear the same relentless repertoire of Christmas songs for a whole month played over and over again to push us into the "spirit." Some of us need to keep some distance from the madness, a different rhythm to the season.
124
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
--Leonard Cohen, "Anthem"
240
@WilliamB Mr. Cohen might have considered: "That's why those bells still sing."
3
@WilliamB Your poetic contribution by Cohen is a “perfect offering” on this theme.
9
In response to John from New Hampshire, I’d like to offer a little more history. While it’s true that Christ’s birth was intentionally set by 4th c. Christians at the Winter Solstice, it’s anachronistic to write of “the original advent festivals of the pagans.” The term “advent” comes from the Latin “adventus,” or “coming,” which translates the Greek “parousia,” used in the New Testament to refer to Christ’s Second Coming. Romans had celebrated the Winter Solstice for centuries, even before Christ’s birth. Clearly, they wouldn’t have known the expression “advent festival,” calling their winter solstice celebrations “Saturnalia” instead.
Look up “Saturnalia” to see how a traditional Roman religious significance of this festival (dedicated to the god Saturn) was different from 4th century Christianity which set Dec. 25 (just after the winter solstice) for Christ’s birth. In fact, Dec. 25 was chosen because the Gospel of John (which doesn’t have a story of Christ’s birth) refers to Christ as the “light of the world,” the “true light unconquered by darkness.” On December 25, 274 CE—centuries after John’s Gospel was written—the Roman emperor Aurelian gave official imperial approval to the cult of the “Unconquered Sun,” known from inscriptions dating to the second century CE. While Roman soldiers acclaimed their god Mithras as the “unconquered sun,” any Roman Christian would have seen the lengthening days as symbolic of the Christ Light conquering the darkness of our world.
69
@Lisa - The biggest struggle for prominence seems to be between the superiority of monotheistic versus polytheism. The monotheistic nature of the Abrahamic religions arose in Mesopotamia and is thought to have been influenced by the flourishing civilization of that period. Ancient Mesopotamia worshiped polytheistic Gods and Goddesses with the Sumerian word for universe being "an-ki" which refers to the god "An" and the goddess "Ki". Their son was Enlil, the air god and he was believed to be the most powerful. Sumeria was the first civilization to ask profound questions such as: Who are we?, Where are we?, How did we get here? They attributed the answers to their Gods who were ascribed power over mankind. Many festivals in ancient Mesopotamia revolved around a mythological drama of some sort, which could be reenacted by its believers in some cases. Usually they revolved around cycles of the moon and provided opportunities for practical things like playing games, relaxing, entertainment and trading of goods.
The numerous civilizations of the Fertile Valley influenced the Abrahamic religion, especially the Hebrew Bible. Mespotamia's cultural values and literary influence are especially evident in the Book of Genesis. From this Abrahamic wisdom arose both Christianity and Islam as offshoots.
20
What a wonderful reflection.
109
@Bill Hobbs I agree; I am just about to go to my local Baptist Church for the first Advent service. It is also called the Toy Service where we give a special toy for disadvantaged children. We have no idea who will receive our present on Christmas Day but it is important that it is a toy of quality. It makes me think how fortunate I am to have so many blessings in my life even though in the last few years I have suffered much loss. Greetings to all across the pond! Pamela
40
Pam. What a lovely post. Hope things are well for you. Like us the dim light of government hopefully gets moved aside by this light.
4
The disadvantaged children need homes to put their toys. The need more than thoughts and prayers.
3
That's a beautifully written piece, but the individuals in our midst whom we most need to heed its message won't give the article so much as a glance.
There are more bona fide evil individuals (psychopaths) in our midst than we commonly perceive.
Even if they did read this article, they would inwardly scoff at it and mock it.
We need to start doing a much better job of identifying true evil and dealing with it appropriately.
37
@Astrid The only evil I have power over is that which resides in myself. If I would root out evil, it is best to start within. An Advent spent in deeper contemplation gets us ready to hold our shortcomings to the Light as it returns to the world.
104
@Kathleen S. I would agree except for the implicit judgement if feel in your words. Honey rather than vinegar . . .
@Astrid there is value in this article for picking up those who read it and listened to its message. We are truly lost if we all just give up.
It’s curious that the author thinks the Church gives the original meaning to this period of shorter days in December (in the northern hemisphere). “Historically, Advent, the liturgical season that begins four Sundays before Christmas Day, is a way to prepare our hearts (and minds and souls) for Christmas. For Christians, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ birth...” Actually, (historically) Christ was likely born sometime in the spring or summer. His birthday was moved to December 25th by the church so as to piggyback on the original advent festivals of the pagans, who were anticipating the lengthening of days after the solstice. If the author wants to write about the original meaning of Advent and Christmas, she should abandon the “Johnny Come Lately” Christians...
21
In response to John from New Hampshire, I’d like to offer a little more history. While it’s true that Christ’s birth was intentionally set by 4th c. Christians at the Winter Solstice, it’s anachronistic to write of “the original advent festivals of the pagans.” The term “advent” comes from the Latin “adventus,” or “coming,” which translates the Greek “parousia,” used in the New Testament to refer to Christ’s Second Coming. Romans had celebrated the Winter Solstice for centuries, even before Christ’s birth. Clearly, they wouldn’t have known the expression “advent festival,” calling their winter solstice celebrations “Saturnalia” instead.
Look up “Saturnalia” to see how a traditional Roman religious significance of this festival (dedicated to the god Saturn) was different from 4th century Christianity which set Dec. 25 (just after the winter solstice) for Christ’s birth. In fact, Dec. 25 was chosen because the Gospel of John (which doesn’t have a story of Christ’s birth) refers to Christ as the “light of the world,” the “true light unconquered by darkness.” On December 25, 274 CE—centuries after John’s Gospel was written—the Roman emperor Aurelian gave official imperial approval to the cult of the “Unconquered Sun,” known from inscriptions dating to the second century CE. While Roman soldiers acclaimed their god Mithras as the “unconquered sun,” any Roman Christian would have seen the lengthening days as symbolic of the Christ Light conquering the darkness of our world.
15
@Lisa Notice that I didn’t capitalize “advent” when referring to the pagans. It's also just a word, meaning “arrival”. As daylight shrunk during December, many cultures awaited and celebrated the first longer days, which became noticeable around December 25th.
2
@John Ranta
Where does the author claim that the church is the actual "original" source of setting aside or observing this dark season with rituals awaiting the light?
What she is saying is that **within the history of Christian ritual and observance,** i.e. before modern Americanized Protestantism, the historic churches had an annual cycle of feast and fast that synchronized the natural cycle with the Biblical story and the cycle of the human lifespan and the cultural and agricultural seasons. You can be quite sure that she is well aware of the ancient pagan and Roman precedents to traditional Christian year, and of the fact that there is no Biblical or historical evidence that Jesus was born near the winter solstice.
The liturgical year is a human creation that has lasted because it speaks so effectively and deeply to our deepest spiritual and psychic needs. It was thrown overboard by overzealous, flatly literalistic, "don't-believe-it-unless-it's-in-the-Bible-and-therefore-totally-historically-true" radical Protestants, who deliberately cut themselves off from centuries of Christian experience, only to buy into some of the worst aspects of modernity without realizing it.
The results have been all kinds of disastrous cultural accommodation, far further in spirit from the ancient church than any of the dreaded "non-Biblical" traditions that were incorporated into the traditional church calendar.
1
The Winter Solstice is something I can look forward to because it is a specific marker of the short days, and after which I appreciate those extra few moments of light each day. If only the markings of our own darkest days were so clear...
100
@NM
Me too. My ideal world would be 6AM daybreak and 9PM sunset. Also winters no colder than 60 degrees and summers no warmer than 75.
Ah well. I can dream.
7
@NM Winter Solstice is the one "holiday" based on scientific fact and so I celebrate it in, I guess, a semi-pagan way, grateful for the dark that brings the seeds to sprout in the spring. As a specific marker, I need no faith to know that light will come again. And enjoy the surrounding festivities as an affirmation that even in dark days, the human spirit of goodness and compassion will return.
5
Welcome to this season of waiting! Maybe we (I) can exercise less vitriol and fear and spend more time in silence and reflection. Too often I begin to believe that a change in the political landscape will cure our turmoil and too often I realize I’ve put my faith in the wrong place. Here’s to personal and global transformation through the one who brought light.....
75
@Dumbsheep Thoughts Beautiful thought, Thank You.
@Dumbsheep Thoughts I agree with you!!! Put our faith and hope in the One who brought light
@Dumbsheep Thoughts
The one who brought light? Yourself?
1
Considering how worn out and worried even terrified most folk Are theses days, that I encounter; we are well practiced in grief. And I live in a fortunate area. Even if the anxiety, so wide spread, is not understood as grief guilt and regret. We can see suffocating darkness and are leaning to solutions. There is no secret corner of this planet left to flee too; no hideout; humanity’s future is everyone’s covenant now.
55