By Brother Brian Shimer

At my last congregation, the church leadership and I decided to start Advent on November 15th, like the Orthodox tradition. We wanted to slow down the season. The Orthodox add in a 40-day fast in preparation for the Feast of Christmas! Our folk didn’t exactly manage that!  

My mom had written an excellent 1968 article about Christmas, lamenting, “…my energy would give out, and I would look around at the cluttered house, at the pile of wrapping paper on a table, at the dishes in the sink, and I would grit my teeth and say to myself, ‘I hate Christmas!’”

Since many in the congregation had similar sentiments, we slowed everything down. 

At the church we wanted more time to marinate in the marvel of the incarnation. We longed to wait, to ponder, to wonder, to engage in the season. How had Jesus’ first arrival truly changed the world then? How might Jesus be changing our lives now? In other words, we wanted to truly embrace the hope offered by Jesus.

Daily, in my work, I encounter people lacking hope and needing it. Of course, they long to hope, to establish their lives upon a greater foundation, a more certain Rock. But, they seek to  achieve this on their own. They “try harder” and fail. True hope, foundational hope, the stuff of reality is richly found not within ourselves but in Another, namely, in Jesus.

It is the hope promised in this season. As we slow down, as we re-listen to the Story, as we embrace Jesus anew, as we welcome Him to make order of our chaotic lives, we will find He has anchored us to a hope found in heaven. This is what the author to the Hebrews spoke of:

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb. 6:19).

So, I invite you to slow the season down, even now. Take the time to let Christmas embrace you.

And … “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the Power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).