Rollins Chapel, 12.4.11
John 1: 1-5,
14, 16
Advent is a
season,
as today's
scripture reminds us,
of light and life and grace upon grace.
And there's
much to love:
family
gatherings.
lights
shining in the darkness.
the end of
academic terms.
But each
year I watch advent unfold,
in our
broader culture,
with a mix
of horror, fascination, and despair.
In theory,
this is a season of waiting.
A time of
contemplation, and anticipation.
A time of
delayed gratification,
A time to
ponder the good news of the idea of God living among us,
and what
that means for the future of the world.
But, of
course, in practice
it’s not
really a time for any of those things.
More than
anything,
it’s a
season for rampant consumption.
A season for
Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays.
For frenzied
arguments over whether stores should open at midnight,
the day
after thanksgiving.
or do the civil thing, and wait until 6 AM.
A time for constant
advertisements
featuring bows
on the top of luxury automobiles,
and joy
provided by
electronics and jewelry.
fat men with
large, white beards,
I try to
avoid the commercials.
Try to
sidestep the headlines from black Friday mobs,
and shopping
freak outs.
But I can’t.
And so I
watched this year,
as a pack of
seemingly normal people,
screamed and
pushed and clawed,
Fighting as
if they had staked their very souls,
on the
procurement of a cheap means by which to make waffles.
