Signs and Times

Stop. Take a moment. Breathe deeply. We have arrived—again—at the beginning of the journey. That’s the strange thing about this season. Advent sits us down in the liminal space of God’s already-and-not-yet kingdom and asks us to wait. Now, if you’re around young children for any length of time, you will be reminded that waiting is very hard. Whether it’s in the car, the grocery store line, or a doctor’s office, my child despises waiting. About five minutes in, I start getting “How much longer, Mom? I have nothing to do! I’m bored!!!” Not too long ago, tired of hearing, “I’m bored” and, honestly, a little concerned that my twenty-first-century child perhaps needed to experience boredom a little more because boredom requires us to be creative (more on that another time), I decided it was time to teach him to live into the boredom. So, now, every time he says he’s bored, I require that he do a mindfulness exercise with me where he has to tell me five things he can see, four things he can touch, three things he can hear, two things he can smell, and one thing he can taste. Of the many benefits this activity has, it requires him (and me) to de-center our discomfort at waiting so that we can pay attention to what is happening around us. Perhaps this is the role of Advent— to teach us to pay attention and figure out what is ours to do as we faithfully wait for the birth of the Christ child and the fulfillment of God’s kingdom.

We encourage you to use the first week of Advent to set the stage for the season to come. In this series, we will explore the signs God gives us in our waiting, those lessons and encounters that guide us along our journey. For many, this season is where we use dark blue or purple paraments or cloth on the altar. Consider adding a clock or multiple kinds of clocks to your altar space to reference the “times” of “Signs and Times.” Add gold accents or candles to help capture the light and play up the contrast of light and darkness, as both are our teachers and companions on the Advent journey.

Also, consider what you want your congregation to take into the Advent season. Perhaps you want to encourage everyone to do a daily breath prayer practice based on a scripture for each week of Advent, such as:
(breathe in) Help me wait and be ready,
(breathe out) to encounter Jesus wherever I go.

Perhaps there’s a hymn that will act as a unifying or “theme” song throughout Advent. Examples include “Toda la Tierra/All Earth Is Waiting” (United Methodist Hymnal 210), “Wait for the Lord” (Worship & Song 3049), or even “New Redemption Song” performed by Over the Rhine. Using a prayer or a song that threads throughout Advent invites congregants to practice paying attention to God’s guidance in the midst of our waiting as the body of Christ.