I heard a person on TV the other day say, "The holidays come so fast now, first there's Thanksgiving and right after that Black Friday . . . " and I said, "Aaarrgghh" and felt like someone had just scraped their fingernails across a chalkboard. No, no, no! Black Friday is not a holiday. Technically, neither is Thanksgiving. The etymology of "holiday" is obvious -- it means "holy day."
Holy days are found on the calendar of the church year, and today the calendar moved into a new season, Advent, from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming." Advent is a time of preparation for what's coming. It is much more about waiting and pondering than the normal pre-holiday frenzy that engulfs so many of us. Which is why Black Friday is a monstrous violation of this season, as are radio stations that start playing Christmas music a week or so after Halloween. Advent is a time to take a deep breath and contemplate what's happening in your life. Slow down. Relax. For God's sake, think.
I've been asked to write a series for Think Christian that looks for signs in our culture of the meaning of this season. These will run the four Sundays of Advent. The first one was posted today and you can read it by clicking here. It meant quite a bit to me to write this and I hope reading it means something to you, also.
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