anarchival

Tomorrow is the first day of the season of Advent. It marks the beginning of the Western Christian liturgical calendar and lasts approximately four weeks until the celebration of Christmas. The name of the season is from the Latin word “adventus,” which means “coming,” but Advent Sunday is rarely a focus on the first coming of Jesus Christ in the nativity. Instead, its liturgy tends to focus on the second coming of the Messiah in latter-days. Given what the Bible says about this Apocalypse (from a Greek word meaning “revelation” or “lifting of the veil”), it seems a strange thing to celebrate. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke predict a time of wars and rumors of wars, all manner of natural disasters, famines, epidemic plagues, and the breakdown of most of what we consider to be human civilization. The Gospel of Luke also predicts that Christ will appear “coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Many Christians imagine it something like the movie 2012, but instead of John Cusack surviving until the end, the Son of God appears.

Not all of Christian theology takes this rather dim view of eschatology. All mythologies tend towards some prediction of the end of the world, and these predictions serve their purpose. They warn those of us who are lulled into security by our privileged circumstances that life, even life on Earth, is finite and often brutal. We should therefore show gratitude and sacrifice to do good while we still can. It’s often even a message of hope for those who find this world to be a disappointing and corrupt place, since it teaches that what exists now will certainly be destroyed in the future and a new (hopefully better) reality will be built in its place. The description of events in the Gospels in particular sounds a lot like today if for no other reason than life on Earth has always been filled with war, disease, starvation, and disaster. Jesus teaches in Luke that when we encounter these events we shouldn’t be filled with fear, but be mindful, pray for strength, and stand with God. Christian eschatology is unique in the sense that it does not in fact take place at some point in the future, but has already taken place and continues to take place and will yet still take place. Christianity in its highest form is a special mythos encapsulating the best values for overcoming tribulation and for making the world a better place. Christ has already come, and continues to come through the every day lives of Christians. The utopian ideal of a perfect world might someday be achieved, but only if Christians first make the presence of Christ real in the here and now.

This year, Advent season lasts for 26 days. Traditionally Advent was a time of penitence and fasting, much like Lent, although more recently the emphasis has shifted more to hope, anticipation, and rejoicing at the birth of Christ. All of these are appropriate responses to the liturgy, but this Advent I’ve decided to focus on the literal meaning of the season by finding ways to more fully welcome the Second Coming. This is a good time to ask ourselves, “If Jesus truly walked the Earth today, where would he be? What would he be doing?,” and most importantly,” “Would I be following his example?” The Christmas season has long been associated with gratitude, generosity, and giving, and the answers to those questions is why. American consumer culture has done its best to cannibalize the true meaning of Christmas, but we can still claim the holiday as a season of Advent when we make the conscious effort to do so. For the next twenty-six days on this blog, I will dedicate each day of Advent to a specific way we may welcome Christ to Earth for Christmas. I welcome you to join me.