There has been a lot of talk about Christmas recently. A lot of it has focused on what will be allowed and how our celebrations will look different this year. We talk a lot about Christmas, but what is Advent? Advent is a season, of four weeks, that the Christian Church sets aside to prepare for Christmas by reflecting on the various ways we wait. I don’t know what you personally are waiting for, but I do know that together we are waiting with bated breath for the new post-pandemic normal to appear. No matter your faith tradition, we all hold in common that in so many areas of our lives we wait, and waiting isn’t easy.
How do we mark this time of waiting? This is where the Christian tradition of the Advent Calendar comes from. It is a way to countdown to Christmas and mark our waiting. In this way, Advent seeks to transform our waiting into a spiritual discipline, which can resource many areas of our lives.
To this end the Christian Chaplains of the Multi-Faith Chaplaincy have prepared a special University of Birmingham Advent Calendar. It has a festive picture of Old Joe on the front and a phrase from a Christmas Carol found under a numbered door. There is a numbered door for you to open for each day in December.
We have prepared these Advent Calendars for you! If you would like one, please email Alex Ferranti, the Multi-Faith Chapalincy Administrator or drop by the Chaplaincy Building, St. Francis Hall (O2 on campus maps), to pick up a copy or visit our website to print and construct your own.
Blessings as we all wait in this Advent season. If you celebrate Christmas, may your rejoicing be made all the more sweet by marking this time of Advent.
by Rev. Mindy Bell, Methodist Chaplain