Sunday, 20 March 2011

• My "Easter Advent Calendar"

  To a person who loves lists, thrives on calendars, and who holds the philosophy that colors each hold their own language of joy, a brightly-decorated advent calendar is a smile-maker! There's only one problem. Advent calendars are only useful for 24 - sometimes 25 - days of the year!

  In fact, in recent years, I've replaced the traditional window-opening style of advent calendar with a colorful list of my own. My "countdown" is to read the Book of Luke (which has 24 chapters) by using the chapter which corresponds to the first 24 calendar dates in December. I love starting the month with the birth of Jesus and then actually reading about His life, His death, and His resurrection before stopping on December 25th to re-read Luke chapter 2 as I celebrate the day set aside to commemorate His birth! It's sort of like getting to see the "ending" of the story and knowing the REASON for celebrating the birth of the Christ Child on Christmas day.

  But as I said, that only happens once a year. Yes, I guess that makes it special, but it really is a "ritual" that turns my thoughts heavenward, and I've often thought that repeating it throughout the year would be a good thing. However, it seemed silly to read the Book of Luke as a countdown in, say, the middle of August, or the end of May.

  Enter: 2011, the year when Easter Sunday, the day on which we acknowledge and remember with gratitude and joy the resurrection of Jesus Christ, falls on April 24th! Could it BE any more perfect with my desire for a second "advent" to celebrate?!

  Therefore, I am stretching dictionary.com's definition of "advent" a little to extend my joy into another season of the year: 1. "a coming into place, view, or being; arrival: the advent of the holiday season." 2. "(usually initial capital letter) the coming of Christ into the world." Still true - even when applied to the month of April, and applied to His resurrection! If He had not come into the world, He would not have died and risen again that I might live. Now THAT is an arrival worth celebrating!

  Would you consider joining me as I read one chapter in the Book of Luke each day in the month of April - ending with chapter 24 on April 24? (The average reading time per chapter is approximately three minutes.) What an awesome way to celebrate His glorious life and join together to accomplish the final words of this Book: "blessing and praising God!"

   

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