If you ask me, Advent, not XCmas, is the most wonderful time of the year. I love the season's invitation to contemplative hopefulness and anticipatory joy. I appreciate today's Gospel call to, "stay awake!" (Mt. 24:42 NAB). God knows, I'd much rather snooze my way through the deep midwinter. Yes, Advent has deepened in its meaning since Roman Catholicism became my preferred expression of Christianity.
This year I've added a new Advent ritual to my personal roster of traditions. Since today marks the beginning of the liturgical calendar, I spent erev Advent writing out a list of last year's frustrations, disappointments, sorrows, displeasures, and whatever psycho-spiritual drek I could tolerate recalling.
My intention? To toss all of it into the purifying fire of the first candle's flame while praying that last year's occasional darkness might be extinguished by the light. I was only a teensy bit tempted to chant, "Om Swaha" as an homage to the crypto-Hindu yoga stretch of my journey from Judaism to Roman Catholicism. This, in turn, prompted me to wonder what the "Magnificat" would sound like in Sanskrit or Aramaic. Having a multiple spirituality disorder can be very entertaining.
