Leadership: A word from Mennonite Church USA leaders

I did not grow up with Advent as part of my Christmas experience. For me as an Amish child, Christmas was nothing like today’s consumer-driven celebration.

When I think of my childhood Christmas, I think of fewer chores and more free time to play. I think of snow and that warm feeling you get when you come in out of the cold.

Christmas was a time when the family schedule changed and things slowed down. It was a time when we ate oranges, as they were considered a luxury food in our northern Indiana household. We went to Topeka (Ind.) when Santa Claus came to town and were delighted with the free candy he gave us.

We spent time with grandparents and extended family. I have many fond memories of Christmas at my maternal grandparents, with all the adults sitting around the room, eating candy, telling jokes and enjoying the day.

Christmas gifts were not a central part of my childhood Christmas experience. I still have the two blue glasses I got from my paternal grandmother one year—the only Christmas gift I recall ever getting from her. Gifts from our parents were limited.

One year, two of my sisters and I got dolls. These were the only dolls we ever received, and I still have mine today. My younger sister got a school bus. She was most unhappy about her bus, so my parents tried to compensate by getting her a smaller, less expensive doll that she named Mabel. But since this was not the kind of doll my sister wanted, Mabel was often neglected and lived a most unhappy life as a doll.

Despite the lack of gifts, I loved Christmas. Christmas was about the fun activities, the food we had only at that time of year and the slower pace of life and time with extended family. It was not about gifts.

Now, as an adult, what I value most about the Christmas season is Advent. I value the anticipation, the waiting, the silence and the music. Advent really is about waiting. Each Sunday we light another candle, and then we wait.

We go about our week, knowing what is on our schedule but not really knowing what tomorrow will bring. It gives us time to think beyond this week or even this month.

Advent gives us time to ponder the work of God in us and through us.

Today’s holiday season is fast paced and hectic. There is shopping, making cookies, decorating the house and the yard, attending parties—and the list goes on.

On the news we hear of the importance of Christmas sales and the impact on the economy. It makes us feel guilty if we’re not shopping and “helping grow the economy.”

Advent allows us to slow down. It allows us to sit in silence and hear that still small voice within us. In times of silence we have only ourselves and our thoughts. Silence reminds us of what is bothering us, what needs attention, what needs to be tended to.

In her book Illuminated Life, Joan Chittister says that silence is “life’s greatest teacher. It shows us what we have yet to become and how much we lack to become it.” Advent gives us silence.

Mainstream American society emphasizes Christmas Day and the New Year’s celebrations. We’ve bundled all this into the “holiday season.” Naturally we need gifts and proper clothing for all these holiday events. “Over the river and through the woods” we go in planes, trains and automobiles as we try to meet the demands of our pressing holiday schedules.

Advent allows us time to sit back and sing those traditional songs. We sing them every year, and every year they grow richer in their meaning. We take time to ponder the words of each song and sing them with our whole being. We look for new meaning in each verse and word.

Advent gives us time to meditate on Mary’s Song (Luke 1:46-49): “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

Advent. The time of anticipation. A time of waiting.

Then Christmas Day comes, and we light the Christ candle. We celebrate the birth of our Savior.