First off I am not against Christmas decorations I am against rushing the season! For those in the western world the season of advent runs from the Sunday after Thanksgiving until the 24th of December. Then the Christmas season begins and runs until the 6th of January. Okay with that said it is fine if you wish to decorate and put all your Christmas decorations out just don’t forget what the advent season is all about. It is about preparing.
In the Orthodox Church this is called Christmas Lent and is a time set aside, just like Great Lent before Easter, as a penitential season. Notice the vestment color changes to red, and in the western church the priest wears purple. This is a time for remembering and preparing for the birth of the Christ Child. Yes in our modern western consumer driven world we need to start celebrating the season right after Halloween so we can buy all the junk that three months after Christmas we have broken, forgotten about, or thrown away, or my favorite re-gifted!
So That’s all I was saying. Don’t loose advent in the rush of Christmas! Don’t forget the preparation before the feast. Slow down and just be for a time and think about what is to come. Not the parties and all of the other holiday hoopla just meditate on what the season in all about. JESUS!
Now before you start with the hateful comments and misunderstanding me, some of this is tongue and cheek so take a step back and relax!
when i was young my friend’s mother would set up her manger and in the little feed box she had a special little silk pillow and blanket she made,on christmas eve she would lay the baby in his special place with his special things she made by hand. i always thought that was just so cute,like waiting for the arrival of her baby.there something to be said about holding off and building the suspence.linda