Advent is the anticipation of Christmas, a time of preparation. Different traditions have slightly different liturgical themes for each week, but it has deep historical roots which you can read about here

Wreaths and colored candles

The Advent wreath is a circle (are there wreaths that are NOT circles, and wouldn’t a straight wreath count as a swag?) and has five candles. Each of these candles is symbolic and each week, one more candle is lit.

But did you know circular Advent wreaths date back to the time of Luther, and they represent God’s endlessness and eternity? Well there ya go. Although I must say it feels ironic to use something like pine boughs to represent something without end, since when we’ve taken down our live trees they’ve left at least half their needles on the floor where even after I’ve swept multiple times they lurk like little booby traps until spring.

The candles of an Advent wreath are usually purple or royal blue, with one being pink or rose (we’ll talk about that in a future post) and the final one being white to symbolize the purity of Jesus.

Reality

While I like the idea of Advent, (and appreciated being pregnant with all three of my children during Advent — it was an especially poignant time) many times it feels like another commitment within an already busy time. And as much as I want to focus in the whole reason why we’re celebrating in the first place…sometimes it just doesn’t come together.

So here my tree sits, cut at the tree farm and decorated with white lights… and nothing more.

That’s just the reality of it.

[Note: the tree just got fully decorated last night but there are still not many other decorations up yet.]

Hope

This first week of Advent is Hope, and I hoped to get this post up earlier this week but it’s taken me this long! That’s again where the idealized (fantastical) reality and the actual reality meet.

This is a slippery topic because I’m an optimist. There’s almost always a bright side, a silver lining to find. And I’ve found that tendency can venture dangerously close to delusion. But here’s a small reflection on Hope.

Hope

It’s a hearty, determined tree, that’s lived through many storms, the kind that seems ready to topple but each spring it leafs out, its branches lusty for the sun and warm breeze.

It’s a fragile, resilient fiddle head fern pushing up through the brown leaf clutter, sure there’s something brighter on the other side.

It’s power creates a well-meaning denial, a befuddlement in the face of facts,

a moving violation – hit broadside from blind alley, totaling the car and leaving you with a limp.

It’s one more try, one more tactic, one more appointment, one more meeting, one more new year’s resolution, once more into the breech because

This time

This time might be the one,

And we just need one.

We’d take more, but we just need one.

Do you take much time for Advent? How do you set the tone for your holiday season? I’d love to hear about your traditions!