Preparing for Christmas

Pastor’s Pen


 

 

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

We are about to enter into the church’s holy season of Advent. It is celebrated beginning the fourth Sunday prior to Christmas. It is a period of spiritual preparation in which many Christians make themselves ready for the coming, or birth, of the Lord, Jesus the Christ. Many of us celebrate Advent not only by thanking God for Christ first coming to Earth as a baby, but also for his presence among us today as we prepare for his final coming. It is the beginning of the church year. The celebration began sometime after the 4th Century and was actually in preparation for Epiphany. In the 6th Century, it began to be associated with the second coming of Christ, and then by the Middle Ages with the first birth event. We call the remembrance of that event “Christmas.”

The word advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning arrival or coming of a great event. Our world has taken it and modified it into what we anticipate of the colors, smells, tastes and emotions of the greatest celebration in western civilization.

But…here in our part of the Gulf Coast, it may be a little different this year. Many cannot use their traditional decorations. What we normally do will not get done. Even some of those family traditions passed down and seasonal remembrances may not have survived Harvey’s blow. Not doing what we usually do to prepare is difficult and sad but also perhaps a little freeing.

In the true Texas Gulf Coast spirit, I encourage you to take time to think about, evaluate, and create some new and perhaps more meaningful preparations. Perhaps they can be ones that touch not only past memories but this Harvey Christmas. It is a Harvey Christmas that can touch our lives where we are today and will help our families experience what it truly means “to prepare for the incarnation of God Almighty in the World of humanity” each Advent in the future. It is a Harvey Christmas, and we can proclaim our faith in Emmanuel in some new ways, time, and activities that will be treasured gifts to our families and communities from this time forth and forevermore.

I’d like to reinforce my brother in the faith, Father James Derkits, and encourage you to be generous to share with others or have experiences that make this Harvey Christmas a true reflection of our anticipation of the celebration of Advent as the anniversary of Christ’s birth and the life to come. This Harvey Christmas can make a difference in your life far beyond all the tinsel and colored lights. Our children, families and communities will remember the “Harvey Christmas of 2017.” With the Holy Spirit’s help, it may be the Christmas that deepens the true meaning of Christ’s presence in even our torn-apart physical world by pulling our loved ones closer to one another and forming memories that last a lifetime.

God’s Spirit be with you as “Advent” prepares us for this Harvey Christmas. Until next time, may the waves never stop and the gratitudes never end. Amen.

Tom Dietzel is a retired Lutheran clergyman who conducts Lutheran services at Trinity-bythe Sea Episcopal Church in Port Aransas.

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