Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices - Blogs

December 16, 2013

Preparing the Way

Not until I was sitting in the pew, listening to the lessons, did I realize how much I missed it.

Since the week before Thanksgiving, I’ve been mostly house-ridden, recovering from back surgery. The inside of our house—the places I can reach—are wrought with Christmas. Nativity sets in the dining room. Santa figurines lining the windows. A porcelain Christmas village around the second tree.

The grease-stained kitchen towels are replaced with Ho, Ho, Ho stitched clothes, and the foyer is filled with Christmas cards and snow globes. The Griswolds may have the corner on outdoor decorations, but I may give them a run for their money inside the house.

I’ve also been trolling the Internet. Since I’m (mostly) confined to the couch, online shopping has been my portal to the Christmas frenzy. Every present this year has been ordered online. The UPS folks love me.

Yesterday, I was able to attend church for the first time this Advent. (I brought my own pillow; they don’t make pews for the faint-hearted or recently stapled backs). The choirs performed the traditional Lessons & Carols. The cherub choir waved to mom and dad and fiddled with their robes. Girls from the junior choir sang the first verse of the procession. The crisp ring of the bells filled the nave. And the combined adult choir, more than forty strong, married their voices, creating beautiful music.

Absent from church, I had been doing the preparing part of Advent in all the wrong ways. The knickknacks change the look of the house, but they can’t compare to the simple garland draped from the ceiling of the church. The Advent calendar with windows of chocolate is a poor substitute to the wreath in church that marks the coming of Christ’s birth.

For me, and for most Christians, preparing for Advent must take place, in part, in community, in the church. This gathering of the saints, the here-and-now and those of yesterday, is vital to ready my heart for Jesus. The prayers and scripture readings, the hymns and sermons all tenderize my soul, pull me from self-focus to an eye on others, on community.

Christmas Eve is always such a glorious service, but I’m realizing that like a muscle that must be exercised, I need the build-up too. I need the worship during Advent to prepare me for the miracle of Christmas.

Try as I might, I can’t ready myself with wrapping paper and delicate ornaments. I need church to make Advent complete.

What about you?