We Need This, Too… 

As a mom and a school chaplain, I love how magical the Advent season is for children. They are filled with such excitement and wonder. They delight in telling me stories about elves and Santa Claus, about the cookies they baked and the Christmas lights at their house, about surprises in their Advent calendars, and the million crafts they are making as gifts. They love to light the Advent wreath and play with the nativity set. They dress up in all the sparkles and goofy hats. They sing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs. It’s chaos and joy and the best time of the year!

Yet, as much as I love all of this, if I’m not careful, my inner Grinch arrives about the third week of Advent. About the time we are lighting that pink candle for joy, it’s easy to feel exhausted and grumpy. All the magic-making too often means many late nights, stressing over finding the perfect gifts, a million messes from the baking and crafting. And let’s be real, excited children also often have meltdowns and fight with each other. It is all a part of the season. 

This is why we also need Advent as the Church. We need the quiet moments, the somber and reflective tones, the call to repent and prepare the way of the Lord. Personally, I want to embrace both the seriousness and the joy, the Christmas parties and the scripture readings. Both fill me with the true beauty of this holiday season. However, if I don’t have those moments of prayer, that grounding in God’s love and peace, then I’m bound to make a mess of things instead of making magic. All my best intentions to make things magical won’t do the trick. In fact, those intentions can just set me up to be disappointed and frustrated - like I’m failing at Christmas. So, I need to pray, to spend time with God, to immerse myself in the readings of the prophets, of Mary and Joseph and the baby born in a manger. 

Our Advent reading today is of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. It’s a very Advent thing to do, to remind us of the hardest part of the story amid all our merriment. Remember though, this is part of the point. We need this, too. 

In our reading, Jesus asks the disciples to stay awake and pray with him, but they all fall asleep. It’s a heartbreaking moment. Jesus is left alone and afraid. He doesn’t want to face the cross. It’s too horrible. In prayer, he even asks God to take it from him. Yet, ultimately Jesus is resolute in doing God’s will and offering his life in love. 

People say that prayer changes things and I believe that. However, I think more often than changing things, prayer changes us. Prayer gave Jesus the strength to face what lies ahead. I wonder what it could have given the disciples at this moment. We know that no matter how much they could have prayed, Jesus was still headed to the cross. It wouldn’t have changed that, but would it have changed them? Would they have drawn their swords? Would they have reacted with violence and cut off a man’s ear? Or would they have reacted with peace and the strength to be with Jesus near the end? Prayer changes us. It affects the way we interact with the world. 

So, this Advent season, if you want to truly make things magical, don’t forget to pray. Spend time with God reflecting on the mystery of Christmas, of his great love for you. It’s not that the cookies will turn out better or that you will find the perfect gift. The decorations won’t be “sparklier” and your family might still not all get along. However, prayer will change you. It will ground you in God’s love and peace. It will help you to feel the true joy and beauty of the season.

Mthr. Kirsten Baer, Casady School and Grace Church