Home?
I find myself caught in the tension between the familiar symbols of Nativity scenes, Christmas trees and carol singing, and the desire for something unfamiliar which would jar me into fresh perspectives on the story of Jesus’ birth and the revelations we receive from the humans, animals and angels that played important parts in it. It’s these new perspectives that continue to grow my faith and draw me closer to God.
~ Christine Aroney-Sine
advent, 1
Ah nostalgia. Nothing elicits feelings of warmth, comfort, and belonging like the Christmas ethos. And don’t our hearts yearn for these things? Truly we were made for them… even though they often slip through our fingers even as we seek to grasp them.
The Christmas story is many things—hopeful and dark, soothing and frightening. Angelic appearances. A homicidal king. Newborn wonder. Frantic flight in the night. Yes, in so many ways, Christmas is The Story. It is both God’s story and it our ours. But neither of these stories are available to us with any transcendent meaning or transformational encounter until we slide beneath the commercial surface and anesthetizing routines of habit.
There are few words that seize my heart with more feeling that the word “home.” Home is where I find my people, my place, and my participation in genuine community. And when you link the words Home and Christmas, well, it’s pure magic. And… it’s also the experience of being carpet-bombed with the most greedy, grotesque marketing assault imaginable.
How do we even hold such dissonance in the soul without coming apart at the seams?
I think the answer lies in setting aside as much of the noise as possible (even church noise) to reconnect with our heart’s deepest longings, specifically the three I mentioned above. Who are our people? Where is our place? And how do we participate in our destiny together? This will be the theme of our four weeks of Advent this year, and I hope they will land with comforting guidance as we journey through a midwinter both bleak and blessed.
For me, the ideas of people, place, and participation resonate so deeply within us because they echo our most fundamental human needs, which I bring into the conversation at regular intervals: approval & affection, safety & security, and strength & agency (I have tweaked this last set slightly)… highlighted in the monastic genius of Fr. Thomas Keating.
Speaking of monastic genius, there’s a new layer in our Advent musings this year, and it ties into the three universal monastic vows. Ever heard of obedience, poverty, and chastity (slightly different but assumed in the Benedictine vows of stability, conversion, and obedience)? Every monastic order requires its community to embrace these three somewhat severe commitments.
What in the world do obedience, poverty, and chastity have to do with our very not-monastic Advent journey?
Well, as Jesus famously baited his curious disciple Andrew, Come and see! Come and see if Advent speaks to your deepest desire for belonging. Come and see if the incarnate Christ satisfies your deepest needs. Come and see if the monastic vows hold comfort rather than austerity for the your hungry soul this Christmas.
growing your soul
Before the tempo of the holidays becomes too jarring, find an entire hour this week (or perhaps several) to get alone and contemplate the Spirit’s invitations for you this Advent.
serving our world
Once you have a sense of what this Advent is about for you (perhaps unique to any previous Advent), share your desires among those to whom you belong.
takeaway
You do belong!