Sunday, December 01, 2013
Sunday Reflection: Culture and Advent
With Thanksgiving past, we enter a season of two definitions, presenting a challenge for Christians.
First, it is the Christmas season in our culture-- a time of revelry, spending, and tumult.
Second, it is the Christian season of Advent, which calls us to a time of quiet and waiting.
The two conflict in every possible way. If we devote our time and energy to Advent, we don't get our shopping done, and we miss the parties. The other way doesn't work either.
I wish that I could say that I do both, but I don't. I bow much more to the culture than to my religious imperative, in part because I can't resist the impulse to indulge all of our culture's bounty this time of year. Do others struggle with this balance?
First, it is the Christmas season in our culture-- a time of revelry, spending, and tumult.
Second, it is the Christian season of Advent, which calls us to a time of quiet and waiting.
The two conflict in every possible way. If we devote our time and energy to Advent, we don't get our shopping done, and we miss the parties. The other way doesn't work either.
I wish that I could say that I do both, but I don't. I bow much more to the culture than to my religious imperative, in part because I can't resist the impulse to indulge all of our culture's bounty this time of year. Do others struggle with this balance?
