Preparing

As we begin our Advent countdown to Christmas, let me share a passage from Jan L. Richardson’s book, Night Visions:

This season beckons me to ask, what am I preparing for? What is the way that is being prepared within the wilderness of my life? What does it mean for my own life to become a path, a way of welcome for the Holy One? How do I give myself time to notice the ways that the path unfolds before me and within me? What are the acts of preparation that bring delight to my daily life? Whom do I ask or allow to help me prepare?

Chances are, if we don’t enjoy the process of getting ready, we won’t enjoy the event we are getting ready for. If we become so consumed by getting Christmas right … we risk missing the surprising ways that God prepares us in this season.

Preparing. Jan Richardson rightly asks us what exactly it is we’re preparing for during this Advent season. Are we simply preparing for the family to gather and so we clean the house, decorate a tree, buy presents and find out when Christmas Eve service is because, even though most of the family doesn’t go to church anymore, this is what we do? Or are we preparing for something spiritual?

I believe there is a Sacred Presence that surrounds us and is within us at all times. But what it is true that  there have always been times and places were extra special, extra sacred? Places considered holy because of the energy of that space. Times of the year – like the Equinoxes and the Solstices - that have a deeper spiritual significance and quality to them. Times when we feel like the veil between this world and the spiritual world grows thinner. Times when hearts open, and magic happens.

What if Christmas - or the Winter Solstice – is one of those times? What if it is a unique spiritual opportunity for us to know Love (with a capital “L”) deeper in our souls? What if there is the opportunity to connect to Something More on that magical Christmas Eve night?

And, what if the extent to which we make that connection depends somewhat on the amount we prepare. For example, say you’re going to watch a meteor shower, and you either walk outside your house at the right time to see what you can see. Or you drive to a darker place in the countryside that is open and the sky isn’t blocked by trees, and you bring a telescope with you. You might see the meteor shower either way, but your experience will be better if you have made preparations to enable you to have a closer encounter.

What if Christmas is like this? If we want to experience the spiritual fullness and depth of this season and of Christmas Eve and Christmas itself, we need to prepare.

In the Gospel of Matthew, 3:1-3, one of the traditional readings for Advent, the prophet John the Baptist calls us prepare, to change our hearts and minds for the reign of heaven is about to break in upon you. Now, Matthew was deliberately foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus – not the baby Jesus, but the man who came with love, compassion, justice and a deep knowing and connection to God. The author of Matthew believed that the Divine Presence was breaking into human existence in Jesus and if people wanted to be a part of it, they should change their hearts and minds, focus on the spiritual.

How do we prepare for a spiritual experience? How do we – in the words of Matthew – change our hearts and minds?

As superficial as it sounds, I think setting the stage helps. Imagine Christmas Eve without the decorations – a tree, candles, lowered lights. It wouldn’t feel right. All of those things help to open our hearts to the mystery of the season. The same thing works in our homes and with our families.

Other seemingly superficial things can also help us prepare if we have the right heart and mindset.

Consider this: there are two different ways we can go about our Advent/Christmas preparation. We can pour love and joy into our preparation. Or not. But if we don’t, we risk the season becoming a chore, an obligation, something to be anxious about and gripe about.

We all know there is a difference! It makes a difference when we pour love into our hearts and minds and direct it at the world with compassion and understanding, versus letting our minds – uninformed by love of our deeper self – run rampant, endlessly criticizing, judging and dissecting.  

Picture shopping at Kohls or Target or wherever for Christmas gifts. With a heart filled with love and joy we look around in awe at all the diverse people out shopping for loved ones, wanting to make the holiday special for their families. We all come from different backgrounds, different traditions, different opinions, but by-and-large we all want Christmas to be meaningful for those we love.

OR we’re out shopping and when we look around our critical mind starts going… I can’t believe how crowded it is, why on earth did I come out, the corporations are just raking in the money today… Oh my gosh, are those pajama pants that woman has on? And slippers? Really? Listen to those whiny kids… someone clearly needs a nap (and it might be me). Oh my gosh, how can they put this slow person on the checkout. It’s taking 5 times longer than any other isle. Why do I always choose the wrong aisle?

Whatever we pour love into is colored beautifully by that love, be it gift-giving, cookie making, decorating the Christmas tree, or singing in the choir. When we withhold love, when we allow ourselves to get caught up in the stress, in the expectations, in the need for a perfect holiday. We simply set ourselves up to miss what is truly important in the midst of it all, and we replace that with anxiety, cynicism, franticness, worry, negativity, and fear of failure.

Here's another analogy… though maybe a bit odd. We all know the difference between kisses that are spontaneous, free and overflowing with love, versus the perfunctory, obligatory, distracted kiss. What you put into it is what you’re going to get out of it. Which way do we want to kiss Christmas?

I know this has been a tough year. There has been a constant onslaught of policies and actions that have gone against the very values that Jesus taught. We worry about ourselves and our loved ones, but we worry about the world, too. I know it has been grim out there. I know there is brokenness just about everywhere we look. I know it has affected people in this community personally. And I know we can’t and won’t give up fighting for justice.

Inviting us to prepare by pouring love into our actions is not intended to be fluffy, feel-good Christmas. Frankly, it’s harder to do this than to be Scrooge. I’m asking us to be the original rebellion that Jesus asked for – a rebellion of love that opens the door to setting God loose in the world.

And when that gets exhausting, in the words of long-time activist Wes Granberg-Michaelson, we need to find “holding spaces.” A holding space is a place we can steady ourselves, ground ourselves in what is truly important. It is a place to regain our energy and balance so that we can continue to bring love to the world.

What is your holding space? It could be turning off the news, getting away from the noise and letting yourself think. It could be prayer – in whatever form that takes for you. It could be exercising, or listening to music, or meditating, or going to church on Sunday morning.

Our preparations for the holiday need to be punctuated by visits to our holding spaces. These holding spaces ground us and center us so that we can flood our minds and hearts with love and bring that mindset and heartset to all we do this time of year. This is the path that clears a way in the wilderness, makes straight a way for the divine to break in during the magical moments of Advent and Christmas.

Advent Blessings,

Kaye