Preparing for Advent [8]

Memories. We all have them.

There are some memories in which we relish, and we regularly enjoy reliving them. There are some memories that frighten us, and we would just as soon forget them. Yes, we all have memories.

Memories. They are interesting.

The good ones can make changing something that helped create those memories difficult, or perhaps even unthinkable. The affects of the bad ones may have altered the course of our lives in ways that make living difficult, and perhaps unbearable.

What do memories have to do with a reflective post on Advent? Quite a lot. Your current environment (life situation) is a factory for making memories (i.e., you live and have experiences = memories). Your current environment has been influenced by culture. Our culture does not celebrate Advent. Rather, it forces on people a Christmas shaped by, dare I say, capitalism.

Did you know there is the very real possibility several "black Friday" deals are frauds? Did you know people have been trampled and killed on "black Friday"? Now, I am not advocating for outlawing "black Friday" because without it Jdimytai Damour (the man in story #1 from the "trampled and killed" hyperlink) would still be alive today any more than I am advocating for outlawing "black Friday" in order to keep manufacturers from, well, doing what manufacturers will do. Yet the truth is, Mr. Damour died in a black Friday related event, and people may have bought a lot of "look alike" items this past black Friday, because of a condition of the human heart. The human heart has been corrupted by, well, a variety of things, but let us just call it sin.

Yes I realize the concept of sin is an unpopular one in our culture today. Yet we cannot disagree that there is something gravely wrong with "us".

I plan to return to the aspect of memories and what they have to do with Advent. Yet between now and that time, after you finish reading this post of course, I encourage you to ponder that concept along with the above comments on memories. For now, I will return to this aspect of sin.

I return to it, in part, because prior to finishing this post I learned of a school shooting that has left 26 people dead, 18 of whom are children. Oh yeah, it is possible the gunman (or one of them) was the son of a teacher at the school. Undoubtedly the questions have been going for quite some time now, and will continue for quite some time into the future. How? Why? What could have been done differently? Are my children no longer safe at school? Etc.

Please understand, I am troubled by the tragedy...my heart hurts for the lives lost and the ripple effects this will have on many, many people. Yet please also understand, in relation to question number four above (i.e., Are my children no longer safe as school?), the answer is NO!

I want to be clear. This is not an alarmist call to home school your children or anything else that may purport to stop a tragedy like this from happening in the future (or at least keep your children safe). What this is, is a plea for us to wake up. There is something wrong with "us".

You can deny the something wrong is sin. That is your choice. But if it is not sin, then what is it? Advent, as a part of God's Story, reminds us this world is not right.

God's Story does not shy away from tragedies like today. This is so important because the cultural expectations of "Christmas" have been dashed for 100's of people today (not counting the 1,000's impacted in other ways today, or the millions around the world who are not able to "celebrate" Christmas in our culturally shaped way). Yet while "Christmas" may have been ruined for many...Advent can bring comfort because events like today will not have the last word!

Advent conditions us to long for the return of Jesus...and at His return there will be no more death (cf. Rev21). Advent reminds us Jesus gave up the "riches" of heaven and entered the "slums" of earth in order to show God's love to people - all people. Advent reminds us that sin, which has impacted every human heart, will only have a temporary reign. In light of that we say maranatha - Come Lord Jesus!