A right way and a wrong way

This is my pastor's Advent letter, which we received in the mail yesterday:

"...We are at the beginning of Advent and we need to be careful...really careful. Let me share a description of Advent with you and then tell you why I'm a bit worried.

Advent (closest Sunday to November 30th until Christmas Eve) is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world...

The next few weeks are meant to act as a time of great anticipation...the recognition of a growing hunger that can only be slaked by the arrival of the Christ-child. This season is meant to take the emphasis off of ugly, selfish living and turn it instead to the ultimate freedom found in relating to the Babe of Bethlehem. Slavery to anything is scheduled to come face to face with the Author of Freedom. Advent says, "Life has been tough, but better times are coming! Release is just around the corner and I can hardly wait!"

At the end of the weeks of Advent we are to figuratively explode with relief. The 'hopes and fears of all the years' are to meet their match in the Son of God. The Christmas season should be one long and exuberant crescendo leading us into the presence of the One who has the potential to satisfy everyone and every longing.

What shape will you be in when Advent delivers you to the door of the manger? What breathless wonder and anticipation will have evaporated under the heat lamps of commercialism? What tiny 'baby-voiced' message will have been beaten out by the shrillness of the marketer's ads? Will the only 'wonder' left in you be the question of how everything will be paid for?

It's not too late to make an investment in a Christmas with a quiet yet focused view on the arrival to earth of a Savior. Pardon the play on words, but 'savor the Savior' in a special way for the next three weeks.

Start now...before the pace is set for you. Establish personal parameters of peace that will bring you breathlessly into His Birthday celebration. Breathless over wonder and awe, not because of pace."

Pastor Paul