Friday, First Week of Advent

Reflection by Gunnar Conley

There is a certain flavor about the air, during the later months of the year, as the children wait in anticipation, and the adults anxiously make preparations. Children scurry around obsessing over the holiday festivities, making gingerbread houses, ice skating, baking cookies, and of course, each day opening a new window of their advent calendars. The calendars serve a simple purpose: they count down the days until December 25th — Christmas, also known as the birth of Christ. It is this preparation and anticipation that defines the meaning of Advent to me.

Perhaps the most important tradition that my family partakes in, to me, would be the searching and cutting down of the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree, is an important symbol. Without the tree, there would be no immediately clear area to place the presents. There wouldn't be any large object to hang lights on. There would be no concept of ornaments, especially not the kind that the children have made in Sunday school. Most of all there would be no point in which to place the angel that looks over the family on Christmas Day, much like the angels that watched over Jesus as a newborn.

Advent is a time of the whole family coming together and celebrating life. The act of picking out a tree is a tradition that my family has observed almost my entire life, and is a highlight of the weeks leading up to Christmas. Most of our Christmas cards have derived from the pictures taken during our quest for a great Douglas fir to don our living room. And not only does it look spectacular, but the smell it releases freshens up our entire house. Advent, for myself and my family, is about enjoying the little traditions, eating good food, and enjoying the company of each other as we prepare for the biggest holiday of the year, the birth of Christ.