| Last weekend, theologian Fleming Rutledge tweeted, “I just saw this announcement in the bulletin … ‘The altar guild will decorate the church for Christmas on Monday, December 23 at 10 am.’ For an Advent fan, this is close to perfect!” My mind flashed to the burnt-out strand of Christmas lights on the porch I had meant to replace by now. And the pile of presents I thought would be wrapped and under the tree. Perhaps I’m not behind on my Christmas preparations after all. I’m just still in Advent mode. If there’s anyone I can count on to point me to a deeper understanding of our annual seasonal waiting, it’s Fleming Rutledge, who released a wonderful book on the subject last year, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it feels like the Advent season is just a built-in on-ramp to Christmas, time to get all the trimmings ready and errands done before we relax over the holidays. Just as we make our way through the first carols of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” just as we repeat the Bible verses and rehearse the nativity story, we also set up our decorations, do our shopping, plan our special meals, and eventually set up our out-of-the-office replies. It’s all part of making our way from anticipation of Christmas to Christmas itself. But Advent isn’t primarily focused on our to-do lists. It’s grounded in another, more pressing reality that weighed on people prior to Jesus’ birth (take the cries of the Psalms for example!) just as it weighs on us now. What do we do about this world that so needs saving? How do we go on in the midst of political turmoil, grief, spiritual confusion, anger? “The Advent season, properly understood, is designed to help us understand this ‘Endarkenment,’” Rutledge writes. “It strengthens us for life in the real world, where there are malignant forces actively working against human well-being and the divine purposes of God.” Yeah, it’s heavy. The Episcopal priest and theologian was the one who wrote an article for CT Women last year about how apocalypse is “essential” to Advent. And that “Advent tells us to look directly into the darkness and name it for what it is.” At my church, we have been going through a sermon series called Light of the World. We are reading passages about how “the true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:9) and singing about “light and life to all he brings.” For all of us who will spend Christmas Eve holding candles at a vigil or gazing at our lit-up trees or even around a glowing TV screen playing our favorite holiday movie, I pray for the light of God to break through the darkness and give a glimpse of the overwhelming light, joy, and peace of his kingdom come. Kate | 