Advent.

Hi friends,

my wife and I began our second year of celebrating Advent tonight.  My wife did this with her family when she was younger, and we are carrying the tradition into our own family.  I love Christmas, but I often get frustrated (sometimes overly so) with the materialism and commercialism of the holiday.  Compare me to Charlie Brown all you want, but I will stand firm on my beliefs about Christmas; I will most-likely blog some thoughts about this in the near future.

When my wife and I have kids, I really do want them to grow up with a love for tradition, even though traditions can become a stumbling block when viewed incorrectly.  Warm, robust, rich-with-meaning, biblically grounded traditions should be a joy to celebrate and follow.  Forgive me for using Wikipedia, but here is a brief definition of Advent in case you were wondering about it.

Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, in other words, the period immediately before Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western Christian year and commences on Advent Sunday. The Eastern churches begin the liturgical year on 1 September. The Eastern Christian equivalent of Advent is called the Nativity Fast but it differs both in length and observances.
The progression of the season may be marked with an Advent calendar, a practice introduced by German Lutherans. At least in the Roman Catholic calendar, Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25; in other words, the Sunday between November 27 and December 3 inclusive.
Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by theHebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they await the second coming of Christ.

First Sunday of Advent - Scripture readings:

Isaiah 1:1-20; Isaiah 9: 1-7