Holy Advent, Batman!

You never recognize how much your traditions and routines matter to the making of a season until they are removed. It doesn't feel like Advent. I can't believe Christmas is less than two weeks away. Part of my problem is the lack of a finals week. I haven't necessarily killed myself the last two weeks....which is good...but that's been my rhythm for 7 out of the last 8 years. At least half of Advent is a time to wind down after exams, take a deep breath, and relax. No such luck this year. Things just keep going, and going, and going. Also, my house is rather barren of decorations. I put up some tinsel, lights and baubles, but haven't put up tree (no room in my house) or a Nativity scene (at home in a box in my parents' basement). My most traditional celebration has been to listen to Handel's Messiah which I have listened to, in its entirety at least a dozen times in the last two weeks. Pitiful, I know.

That's not to say that other folks aren't going to town. It's quite fun to see the lights go up and the lighted trees in the windows as I drive around. A bit of trivia--the English did not decorate Christmas trees until Prince (?) Albert (Queen Victoria's husband) brought it over from Germany in the late 19th/early 20th century. Also, only in the last few years have outdoor lights and other decorations become popular--like in the last 5 years. Apparently, it's something that has crossed the Atlantic from the States. Most folks do a simple outline of the house shape or drape icicle lights along the front of the house. Others, though, go all out. It looks like they went to the store, bought every outdoor decoration they had, came home, and then it looks like Christmas threw up on the front of their house. But then you get that at home, too.

Church wise, things have been going non stop. On the positive side, I really haven't had to go to many meetings. It's all been fellowship stuff, which is fantastic (though I realize that all of the church members have been working hard and I'm just enjoying the fruits of their labor...). On the other hand, things have been going non stop. Christmas carols are incredibly popular and nearly every church has a carol service. I'll be going to at least three of them. There are some similar carols--Away in a Manger, Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and the like. Some of them have the same tune, but the verses differ a bit. Others have the same words, but the tunes are completely different. Have you ever sung a Christmas Carol to a tune that isn't normal? It absolutely ruins it! Now, I know, as a responsible minister, I should say that it doesn't matter, it's the words we sing, etc, blah blah. But no. O Little Town of Bethlehem isn't the same. Neither is It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. But mince pies are very tasty (they don't make them with meat anymore). I'm learning the traditions, slowly but surely. One big thing that a lot of churches do for children is the Christingle service.

A Christingle is an orange with a red ribbon wrapped around it, a candle coming out the top, and four toothpicks with fruits or sweets of some sort stuck into the orange around the candle. The orange represents the world. The red ribbon represents the blood of Christ. The four toothpicks represent the four seasons and the sweets the fruits of the earth. The candle, quite obviously, stands for the light of Christ. The tradition originally came from the Moravian Church in the mid-18th century. The word "Christingle" means "Christ Light". (see picture at left)

One last note--Paul (my brother, for those of you who don't know) is coming! Yay! He'll be here next Wednesday. I'm still trying to decide where he's going to sleep. I'm really glad he'll be here for Christmas. It'll be good to have family around.