Today is the first Sunday of Advent and the start of the liturgical or "church" year. This is a time of waiting and preparation for the Nativity. Advent has been celebrated by Christians from about the year 480.
It's easy getting caught up in the mass consumerism and expectations of Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I love family traditions, but as you get older all the Christmases seem to blend together into one. Of the 60+ I can remember now, just a few stand out. The simple childhood ones on the farm are etched on my mind forever. And later, those rare times when we traveled on Christmas or did something completely out of the ordinary.
Despite that, I still do pretty much the same things each year. There is also comfort in that, because as time goes by we realize things can't always stay the same.
The point of Advent rituals such as lighting candles is to slow us down. To make us to reflect and wait patiently. Germans love their Advent calendars and the vintage ones were beautiful. We always shared a paper Advent calendar in December, and opening the door together each night was a little family event. The un-shareable chocolate ones like I give Nova and Maya hadn't been invented.
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