We Begin with the Light of One Candle

I recently asked one of my younger grandsons what he found interesting about school this year. He replied with a detailed description of an item on the lunch menu. Maybe it’s the teacher in me, but I expected him to respond with something about classes, friends, homework, or similar. I wasn’t ready for a food response, totally unexpected. In retrospect, it made great sense. Eating is a bright spot in our day.

The Gift of Light

In this part of the world, the daylight continues to wane; dawn comes later, and the darkness of night earlier. Light and darkness are tensions in the natural world and symbolically in our daily experience. A sunny day feels like a great gift.

The interplay of light and dark can bring us into Advent.

Getting Ready

When our children were young, and we needed to leave for somewhere or to welcome guests, getting the little ones ready involved many details. Invariably, something would require more attention than expected: a stuck jacket zipper, a missing shoe, an uncooperative spirit, and so on. We like to get ready on time.

As we navigate into Advent, we probably have expectations about how we will adapt our prayer practice to the season. We are getting ready for Christmas.

Time For Prayer

The Advent wreath gives witness that we begin with just one candle. We add one flame each week. It is a gradual illumination of warmth and light. We take our time to attune to God’s time. We let Him dawn on us.

If we think of our Advent prayer as a gift in time that the Lord invites us to enjoy and cultivate over these four weeks, then the time is ours. Light calls us forth – perhaps to the unexpected.

As we listen to the Scripture readings during Advent, it might be helpful to think about what we expect to hear. We are so familiar with the texts it’s easy to get used to the theme and content. Yet we are constantly changing, and what we hear or read this year from the sacred texts may bring us to an unexpected place – with our thinking, relationships with others, attitude toward creation, or prayer.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

Let our family prayer open us to God’s Spirit, who moves us toward growth – deeper – nearer to the Light.