Yes! It's upon us! The Christmas "stuff" is out everywhere. Why, it has even snowed, to make it more "here and now". Somehow, it makes me a little perplexed to see all this. The problem is that I can't help but get excited with the lovely decorations, the lights, the candles, the carols, the gifts, the 'goodies' ... so much so that by the time Advent comes, the true waiting period, I'm already blasé about all this hoopla, and I am tempted to be overwhelmed by all that is left to do before Christmas day.

Yet, Advent is such a special time! It's a yearning time, a preparation time, a time when we can truly experience the precious gift of HOPE. What we hope for has already come, but is always coming more profoundly. It is a time of expectancy ... like a woman expecting a child ... the baby is there, alive in her, but not yet fully revealed. That is what Advent is like; just as the people of Israel yearned and waited for the Messiah, just as Mary waited for the birth of her child, so we also wait for Someone who has already been revealed, who is already living among us, but wishes to be revealed more fully yet. So Advent is a time in which we strive to become more open to receive Him and more perceptive to recognize Him. Advent is a time when we contemplate Mary and share her hope and her faith. It is a joyous time, a youthful time!

So, the decorations, the lights, the candles, the carols, the gifts, the 'goodies' are all part of that joyous time, but only a part, not the "full deal". I think it's a way to express our hope, our joy and our excitement. It's true that Christmas, for most of us, would not be Christmas without a tree, and lights, and presents under the tree; but would Christmas be Christmas without the ever renewed birth of Emmanuel – "God with us"?