Advent with or without snow…

I still recall my first advent season in Florida. It felt so odd to be listening to Christmas carols with the windows rolled down, the warm breeze wafting in, as we past emerald green lawns filled with Christmas decorations. The days were long and filled with sunshine, which was very different from the cold, short December days I was used to growing up in the Northeast. I enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the chance to run and errands without a coat and gloves. It was wonderful to be in this beautiful warm place in many ways, but there was something that was strange and different about this advent season. I knew I missed family that was at a distance but there was something else that I was missing. What was that something else?

Was I missing winter? I thought perhaps I missed the snow. Freshly fallen snow can be very beautiful. But it was not snow, or even the season of winter, that I was really missing. I was missing the experience of advent that I knew and loved. It was that first Christmas in Florida, I realized how deeply my experience of the liturgical year was tied to my experience of the seasons. It was in advent, that the cold, quiet, short days were lit by the advent wreath. The light of Christ was filling the darkness and there was the hope of longer days and sunshine that would follow in the spring. So there was a strangeness about my first few sunny and warm Christmas seasons, but also much joy. We found a wonderful faith community there and shared in Christmas plays and new traditions. Now that we are again in the Northeast, I cherish those warm and sunny Christmas memories from our Florida years. Wherever you are this advent and Christmas season, I wish you the joy of Christ this advent and Christmas season.