Today, Dec. 1, 2013, marks the beginning of Advent for this year. Advent is the four weeks leading up to Christmas and is typically coupled with a wreath of five candles. The candles symbolize Hope, Love, Joy, Peace, and lastly the Christ candle. Now, why would I want to devote a post to something that you probably all know, or at least have heard about once or twice, or maybe you just don't care? Well, because every thought gone unspoken is never heard by the one who never knew. Hmm... unpack that one, hahaha.
Advent is the time of year for Christmas magic, Christmas miracles, and above all else, Christmas spirit. Let's look at the four pillars surrounding the Christ Candle on this hypothetical wreath I've laid out, just for the sake of putting it all out there.
Hope: Now, to many of us, hope can cover a lot of ground. Football fans hope their team can pull off a miracle comeback to make the playoffs this year. Hope may be the name of your daughter, sister, niece, and so on. This girl or woman may represent the hope that core family values and traditions are continued; that maybe something that was said to be impossible happened anyway. A woman told she is barren holds out hope for a miracle baby. Hope -- deep down HOPE -- is felt from the depths of one's heart. This is the hope that the believers of long ago felt, the hope of a fulfilled prophecy. In the world we live in today, there are a lot of struggles. Family and individual struggles. Hunger. Homelessness. Unemployment. Working a lot for so little gain, and being unavailable to your family. Wars. But we keep living. We have that hope that things will turn around. Depth of the heart hope. And hope will prevail as long as we believe.
Love: For a lesson in love, I can turn you only to one source. And be it out of context, I don't care. I believe there to be so much value in this source that regardless of religious stand, there is something in here for you. I want you to watch the movie Love Actually with an open mind and open heart. The Bible says to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. The Bible says to love others as you love yourself. The Bible says the greatest commandment is to LOVE. Along with love, you find FORGIVENESS. You find SACRIFICE. You find Christmas Spirit.
Joy: For every Scrooge, there is a Tiny Tim, right? For every grinch, there is a Cindy Loo Who. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The popular song about joy refers to having it where? Yes, down in /my/ HEART. And once you have that joy, you share it. At Christmas time, you sing carols door to door, or at a nursing home, or something of that fashion. Joy is even greater than happiness because of the fact that it's stored deep down inside one's heart, right next to Hope and Love. And right next to Peace.
Peace: Peace be with you. What is peace? Well, it can't be the same thing as Hope, Love, or Joy, can it? Can it? Peace again is something deep inside of us. Every one of us has had something or someone hurt us in some way shape or form. A simple comment from a coworker, or schoolmate. Maybe something harsh said by a boss or parent or other "authority" figure in our lives. We store these things up, whether we want to or not. Forgiveness sets us at peace. Peace happens when we find something that truly makes us happy. Some people may refer it it as their "Zen moment."
As a whole, Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace sum up everything that Christ lived for. The HOPE that a savior would come. The LOVE He taught about in every possible way through action. The JOY of all the sinners whose lives He touched. And the PEACE of those who have been saved by His hand. He portrays SACRIFICE and FORGIVENESS.
Each of these candles represents something that has to be individual before it can be shared. But, when it is shared, look out! Because there... THERE is the Christmas Spirit.
