I Will Light Candles This Christmas

This week puts us into the liturgical season of Advent. The name comes from the Latin word “adventus” which referred to the coming of Jesus in two senses of the word. First, it referred to the celebration of Jesus’ coming into our world as “Emmanuel” or “God with us.” But it also referred to the time when Jesus would come again and all would be reconciled according to God’s plan. Thus, paradoxically, Advent is about both birth and death – the birth of Jesus and the death/end of that which does not correspond to God’s vision for the world. And while Advent is often viewed as the “time leading up to Christmas,” it really is a season unto itself with specific disciplines and practices.

Each week of Advent has a theme, and one tradition that many celebrate is an advent wreath with candles. The first week celebrates hope and is represented by the purple candle – sometimes called the “prophecy candle” referencing the tradition of the prophets who expected a liberator to rise up and make the world right. The second week celebrates faith and that purple candle is sometimes called the “Bethlehem Candle” recalling Mary and Joseph’s journey.  The third week celebrates joy (and in many circles love) and has a pink candle – sometimes called the “shepherd’s candle” reminding us of who the angel spoke to first upon Jesus’ birth. And the final week of Advent celebrates peace. It is symbolized by one last purple candle sometimes called the “angel’s candle,” reminding us of the angel’s message that Jesus came to bring peace.

Especially in northern climates, Advent coincides with a season of quieting and darkness, and the disciplines of prayer, patience (waiting) and giving are part of the season. For many, the quieting aspect of the season is a welcomed practice that provides an alternative to the busy-ness of this season. It’s a chance to re-focus our attention and – like the end times – try to strip away that which does not fit into God’s vision for this world (and in our lives).

There is much that we can say about Advent and what we might focus on as we move through it. For example, one could easily just take up the idea of waiting and expectation and bring that to your prayer life in a particular way. We could also use the theme from each week’s candle (prophets, Bethlehem, shepherds, angels) and use these to think about modern examples of this in our world (who are our current prophets; reflect on the displacement of people for political reasons, reflect upon the conditions of some of our lowest and poorest paid workers, remember angels who have seen us through our hard times). The list could go on, and, perhaps, you’d be willing to share some of what you might focus on this Advent in the comments section!

One question I have always loved comes from Richard Rohr’s reflective question about Advent, “What are we waiting for?”

Just sit with that question for a moment. What are you waiting for these days? Is there something, in particular, that you – like so many of the biblical characters we encounter during these 4 weeks – are trying to trust these days in your walk of faith? How do you hold out hope for something that has not yet arrived or seems to be delayed?

What I appreciate about this season is that it encourages us to be a hope-filled people. Hope is different from optimism. Hope does not hold the belief that everything will work out, per se. Hope is not a guarantee or certainty. Rebecca Solnit says that it is “a state of mind, not a state of the world…[that is] not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not prediction. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.”

Thus hope does not remain focused on what is so much as what could be and actively keeps working towards that – regardless of success. It trusts that the final outcome of history is not yet written and that our efforts and the efforts of others, however small or seemingly insignificant, play a part and may set in motion things that we cannot envision or see. We witness this time and time again in the stories of Advent where the central figures of our faith – in the midst of their day to day lives and uncertainties – said, “Yes,” to a God who asked them to move forward in faith without knowing the full picture.

One of my spiritual mentors in recent years has been the great theologian and civil rights leader, Howard Thurman. (It is said that Martin Luther King, Jr. walked around with a copy of Thurman’s powerful book Jesus and the Disinherited in his pocket…that, right there, was enough for me to delve deeper into Thurman’s work!). Thurman has a wonderful Advent prayer that is based in hope and deciding to live in a certain way in spite of what we may witness around us. In his poem called, “I will Light Candles This Christmas” he says,

I will light Candles this Christmas,
Candles of joy despite all the sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,
Candles of courage for fears ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,
Candles of love to inspire all my living,
Candles that will burn all year long.

This, for me, is what we can try to take up during Advent – lighting candles all around us – candles of joy, candles of courage, candles of grace, candles of love. This requires nothing more than our willingness to believe that whatever we do is participating in a plan bigger than we can see or understand. It is also a trust that we do not have to save the world by ourselves. We trust that others are also lighting candles of hope, love courage and peace and that, ultimately, God will bring about the final reconciling, not us. We are merely asked to play our part.

But discerning our part requires us to slow down, listen carefully to the Spirit’s urging in our lives and to trust what we hear. And that is often hard to do in the midst of so many demands, commitments and distractions. Thus, during Advent, we might work extra hard to create space in our lives (just like in the manger) where Jesus can take up residence.

And so the question remains…What are we waiting for?

PS – If you want to join us for our Spiritus Advent gatherings, we will meet on Wednesday, December 6, Monday December 11 and Monday December 18 from 7 – 8:30pm EST. We’re asking people to sign up at and we will send you the zoom link (if needed) as well as each week’s materials ahead of time. Please register here: https://spirituschristi.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/218/responses/new