It is December 4th and we have no Christmas tree.   In years past, I would excuse this lack of Christmas cheer by saying that I married a man of no holidays and no traditions.  Our first Christmas as a married couple we decorated a palm tree.  Last year, we knew a move was imminent and didn’t bother to bring up a single box of Christmas cheer from the garage.  Some of my fondest memories as an adolescent involve decorating my parents’ home for Christmas, usually on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

This year, we still have no tree, but I must admit that I haven’t been scoping the Boy Scouts set ups or Home Depot parking lots.  We have a baby on the verge of being a toddler and I don’t want to deal with her inevitable attack of the tree for any more days than necessary.  This year also marks our first year as full-fledged Orthodox Christians  and we have run up against the idea of Advent vs. Christmas.

In the Presbyterian church I grew up in, we cherished Advent.  Each week in December a different family would get to light one of the candles and read an appropriate passage of scripture.  It was the only time of year our family had nightly times of a story, prayer and the singing of a carol.  I loved Advent and I remember tearing up in the backseat on the way home from church one Sunday in high school.  The new pastor had skipped the advent part of the service.  Somehow, the season didn’t seem sanctified.

Usually, I’m most struck by the idea of the sacred intervening in the physical, tangible world.  But sacred time, be it a season or a service, can often be more powerful for the believer.

When I married into the non-denominational, evangelical world, Advent faded away.  I’ve spent the last few days longing to light candles and find new ways to celebrate the Orthodox 6-week season.  If I had my act together, the would be 7 candle Advent wreath hanging in our living room, holding a place for the Christmas tree that would appear late enough in December to last through the 12 days of Christmas.

I haven’t made the wreath yet and it might not happen this year.  But I encourage everyone interested in celebrating Advent in an Orthodox Christian context to check out this blog:  The Liturgical Year for Little Ones.    It made my week.