since i've had such a great response to the whole advent discussion, i decided just to post about it. first, i guess i'll do what i should have done in the first place: explain it. basically advent is a season where we light candles on the advent wreath. the advent wreath consists of five candles. four of those candles make a square, and then the fifth candle is in the middle. at my church the four candles are purple, but last year my pastor said that in some churches the candle for the third week is pink. i forget why. but i'm sure he'll tell us again this year. the candle in the middle is lit during the Christmas Eve service. Except a few years ago, i think they lit the middle candle on Christmas Day when that happened on a sunday. at least, they did that at my church. but my family wasn't there that sunday. i've actually never seen that middle candle lit.
anyways, each of the four candles stand for something. there's the candle for hope, peace, love and joy. At my church we usually have sermons that go along with each of those sundays during the season of advent. it's nice to have that whole month focused on remembering what it took to actually get to the birth of Jesus.
When we were without a pastor over a year ago, we had one guest speaker who tied in his Christmas music listening with the season of advent. at the church where he preached, he wouldn't listen to any Christmas songs until the season of Advent started. and actually, i really like that "guideline." i guess it keeps the season all in that time frame so we don't get burnt out on it.
I wasn't able to tell my friend who asked about what i found. But the girl who helped me answer the question, "What is Advent?" got to hear a little of my findings. she, like me, see advent as something that she's been doing for her whole life.
so i really enjoyed hearing all your input on the subject. and yes, Aunt Tracey, i was surprised of what came out of a little something mentioned on the car ride home from Grandma's house. i'm not trying to put out there that advent is right or wrong. i guess i'm just looking for purpose and history. and it looks like i've found it. other than that, i totally forget where i was even going with this post. i guess that's what i get when i'm trying to talk to two people on IM, and blog something at the same time. but it's alright, i'm having a blast. i guess all i have to say is today is World Kindness Day. so be nice to someone this evening.
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3 comments:
Yes, I actually think I have seen that celebrated at a church before. I had no idea what it was. I thought it was just decoration. It does actually sound neat.
No one special.
Hehe, I remember the first time I saw the advent wreath. I wasn't a Christian at the time (I was 4 or 5 years old), and I thought it was a countdown for when Santa would come and get me presents. Now I'm a little more mature :).
So do the "hope, peace, love, and joy" you mentioned correspond with four specific parts of the Christmas story?
I was assigned to write a devotion for the Advent Sunday that focuses on Bethlehem. (We were told that the order is prophecy, Bethlehem, shepherds, angels, and Christ.) So does the Bethlehem Sunday correspond with the "peace" candle? Or am I getting myself all confused? (Or do different churches give different meanings to the candles?)
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