Seen & Unseen Aloud
Christmas Countdown Day 1: Advent Calendars
The Christmas Countdown begins! Day 1: Alianore Smith talks Advent Calendars
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Duration:
- 7m
- Broadcast on:
- 01 Dec 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
Hello and thank you for joining us for the scene and unseen allowed Christmas countdown. My name is Natalie Garrett. We're here for you when you need to be hands free and ice free, but still want to explore the scene and unseen of the festive season. Beyond waiting, Advant's acknowledgments and Expectations by Allian or Smith Growing up, I wasn't a particularly big fan of Advant. I think this possibly had something to do with the fact that I was never allowed a chocolate Advant calendar. Every year, my brother and I would petition my parents for one, even suggesting a fair trade, Advant calendar, even offering to share it, which would be a Christmas miracle in and of itself, in the hope that this would swing the odds in our favour. Not no such luck. Every year we were told in no uncertain terms, Advant is a time of waiting. Can you tell both my parents are Vickers? So no chocolate for us. I felt this particularly acutely in my first year at university. My flatmates and I decided to open our advent calendars together on December 1st. Everyone else got chocolate, dairy milk, crunchy, even a twix. I, however, got a hearty piece of scripture detailing two of the key advent themes that people walking in darkness have seen a great light. After all, man shall not live by advent chocolate alone. I am delighted to report, however, that since my mother-in-law heard this story for the first time, she now takes great delight in sending me a chocolate advent calendar every single year. My lint one arrived last week. Man shall not live by advent chocolate alone, but it certainly helps. Of course, the older I've become, and the greater my understanding of church tradition, the more I've understood what my mother was getting at. Advant is a time of waiting. In the church's calendar, Advent is a season of expectation and preparation. Most people prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth whilst also looking ahead to his final return as judge at the end of time. Traditionally, advent has been split into four, or if you're very serious about Advent's seven weeks, each with a different theme, death, judgment, heaven and hell. Advent is a time of waiting, doesn't seem so bad when you know what the alternatives are. In more modern times, however, the church has generally moved away from the four themes of death, judgment, heaven and hell, and instead embraced slightly cuddlier abstract nouns, hope, peace, joy and love. March nicer. But my new favourite way of thinking about Advent takes a middle ground between these two, and comes from theologian Fleming Rutledge. She says this, Advent begins in the dark. Advent begins in the dark, which seems quite frankly ridiculous when Christmas lights are being turned on in late November and sparkly baubles are for sale everywhere you look, but traditionally she's right. Advent does begin in the dark. Remember what my Advent calendar told me all those years ago in my uni flat? The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Advent is a season of acknowledging the reality of the world and waiting with expectation for something better, which for Christians means Jesus' birth and his triumphant return and glory. And if we're going to acknowledge the reality of the world, we're going to find some serious darkness. You don't need me to list them. They're right in front of us, Israel and Gaza, poverty, even in the most affluent of countries. The abuse of children, the exploitation by ruthless gangs of people desperate to build a better life. It's everywhere in our newspapers, neighbourhoods, families and our very selves. Darkness is, more often than not, the reality in which we live. But we're not very good, I find, at dwelling in the darkness when the option of skipping forward to Christmas is all around us. When you're playing wamageddon in every shop you go to, and your social media is filled with other people's twinkly, beautiful Christmas trees, it's hard to sit with the darkness. But in the words of Fleming Rutledge once again, Advent is designed to show that the meaning of Christmas is diminished to the vanishing point if we are not willing to take a fearless inventory of the darkness. Take a fearless inventory of the darkness. How are we supposed to take a fearless inventory of the darkness when the darkness is so very big, so very dark? How can we be fearless in the face of darkness? The answer, surprisingly, lies once again in the meaning of Advent. We are waiting for Jesus. The one who Christians call "the light of the world" invites us to acknowledge the reality of the darkness and understand that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. And we are waiting in the knowledge and the certainty that he will show up. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. In Advent, the church journeys from darkness to light. We consider the world around us. We look back to the incarnation, to Jesus' birth as a baby. When we find ourselves as we take that fearless inventory of the darkness, longing ever more fervently for the light of the world to step in. It might mean a slightly different Advent, perhaps with a little less chocolate and a little more reflection, but it leads to something even more glorious. After all, how much more dazzling is a candle lit in a pitch black room than one lit in broad daylight? Advent is about waiting. Advent begins in the dark. But it points us towards something greater. It acknowledges that deep yearning within all of us, as we are faced with the darkness of the world, that deep yearning for light, for hope, for peace, for joy. And it promises that such a thing is on the way. Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed this episode of the scene and unseen allowed Christmas Countdown. Maybe you could share it with someone else as an early Christmas present. (gentle music)
The Christmas Countdown begins! Day 1: Alianore Smith talks Advent Calendars
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.