Editor’s note: For those who are still looking for activities to do this Advent, we went to our archives to bring you this story from the December 2012 issue of The Lutheran, which has not been previously posted on Living Lutheran.
We hear in sermons what the liturgical calendar tells us: we should approach Advent with a contemplative pace. It’s what we long for—to have time to watch for the Messiah.
But we’re so tired. There are Christmas cards and packages to get to the post office. We need to bake two more batches of cookies before we can get some sleep. We’ve double-booked ourselves again and wonder how to gracefully attend both events.
Like me, you’ve probably read the magazine articles that order us to prune our expectations by doing only those things we decide are important. The authors cheerfully assume that if we stop giving gifts or tell our relatives they can’t come visit this year, everyone will understand. But in the real world, most of us find it impossible to pare our December to-do lists.
It’s time to think about this issue differently. Although it might seem counterintuitive, this year let’s try adding some contemplative and creative activities in the hopes that it will carve space in our schedules to steer us back to the true purpose of Advent.
We already have some tools to help us in that direction: Advent calendars and wreaths. It only takes a little time to light the candles on the wreath or to open Advent calendar windows.
Make a simple wreath
If you don’t already have an Advent wreath, it’s easy to create one. To make a traditional wreath, bend evergreen boughs around a wire circle.
Or take a simpler path. Buy or gather four candles you already have. The shape doesn’t matter: taper, votive, tea light—all work equally well. Arrange the candles in a circle on your table to make a wreath. You can use flowers or evergreens to fill in the circle shape. Or use other items to spark contemplation: ornaments, cards or heirlooms.
Create a calendar
It’s also easy to make an Advent calendar. My parents still have a Scandinavian Advent calendar bought when they were stationed in France. It’s made of paper hearts that link together. You can create something similar: a paper chain Advent calendar.
Each day write a prayer, hope, Bible verse or memory on a slip of paper. Attach it to the chain. As it grows, it will remind you of Christmas drawing closer.
Keep a journal
Perhaps you’d like a more permanent record of your prayers. This Advent, why not begin a prayer journal?
Try to pick a time that would be centering and peaceful for you: mornings, lunch breaks or just before bed. During that time write a brief prayer, along with the date. This can be a powerful tool to keep you grounded.
Gratitude journals work in similar ways: as you list five or 10 things that made you grateful during the day, you return focus to what’s important.
Or you could create a memory journal. Each day take 10 minutes to write a holiday memory. When you’re with your friends and family members, write down their memories or ask them to do so.
You can preserve time in other ways too. For example, each day take a picture of your surroundings or use your camera to record a brief (no more than a minute) video of your surroundings. Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the gifts of creation that surround you.
If you really want to share these Advent observations, display a journal with writing or prints on your coffee table. Or upload a brief sentence or two, a photo or a video each day for family and friends to see on social networking sites like Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest.
Engage your inner artist
Maybe this year will be one where visual arts encourage your Advent state of mind. Even those of us with no artistic skills can play with color, crayons, markers or cheap paint. Begin your artistic session with prayer or Bible verse. Then swirl colors on a page and see how the Spirit speaks to you.
Or experiment with a collage. Gather some magazines.
Before you begin, take a minute to pray for God’s guidance or read a Bible text. Then flip through the magazines and rip out images that speak to you. Don’t spend time wondering why—not yet. Just collect a pile of images.
Put the images on a large poster board or in your journal pages. For something less permanent but simpler, spread them out on a table. What themes do you see? If God communicates through these images, what’s the message? What yearnings jump out at you?
A variation of this exercise is to create a vision board. Think about what you’d like to have more of in your life and find images to match. Put the images on poster board as you pray for God’s wisdom to guide you in seeing not just what you are working toward, but to what God may be calling you. Put the board where it can be a regular reminder.
The vision board exercise can be more potent when done with friends, who can pray for you as you pray for them and remind you of your goals.
Activities for your congregation
Likewise, in our congregations we encourage the mindfulness of Advent by offering activities for the community. Maybe one of the following ideas will work for your congregation:
- Invite individuals and families to a workshop where they can create an Advent wreath to take home.
- Design Chrismons or other ornaments for the church or for members’ homes.
- Make candles and talk about the Advent theme of light breaking through darkness.
- Create stained glass by using special paint on glass windows.
- Bake cookies together—after all, some of us attend churches with industrial kitchens.
As we create together, remember those who can’t be with us. Ship cookies to college students or those serving in the military. Make Christmas cards for the homebound. And, of course, there’s the time-honored tradition of caroling.
While using these creative activities to enrich our Advent, it’s worth remembering that we’re celebrating the liturgical and, soon, the calendar New Year. In terms of resolutions or goals, what do we want to keep doing to enrich our spiritual lives? And how can we keep these Advent oases of creativity in our schedules so we don’t find ourselves parched and withered at the end of the year?
