I walked in an Iowa cornfield looking for leftover scraps. Whole, dried corncobs deter squirrels from climbing onto our bird feeder, so I wanted to collect a few. But the combine did its job and I found only two intact. Then I combed a harvested soybean field. Would birds and squirrels eat the tiny pods clinging to brittle and trampled stalks? I set them out on our stone wall, and there they still sit.
In hopes of clinging to what’s good and true this December, instead of settling for scraps that don’t satisfy or last, I started thinking about Advent. After Thanksgiving, Christmas hurries in with shopping, treats and pleasures. It’s natural to cling to what’s next. A synonym for advent is arrival, and any child with an advent calendar knows about counting down to the awaited day.
But what about Advent in the sense of a Christian tradition? Paul David Tripp’s Advent book, Come, Let Us Adore Him, aims to help people look ahead at Christ's arrival in the Christmas season. Andrew Peterson’s album, Behold the Lamb of God, starts the first song with these words, “Gather round...” and then he tells about the “old, old story.” He reaches back to the Old Testament, and on into the New, and sings of a timeline with Christ Jesus who comes to rescue the broken, and in turn, gives a heritage and a hope that will last forever.
Writing Prompt: Using the definition of advent, ponder your own anticipation for the month ahead and describe it in 5-7 sentences.