shopper or hunter?

Why do Christians celebrate Advent? I'm aware that it can seem like just one more thing to add to a busy life: trying to carve out time for Advent candle lightings or Advent meditations when there's shopping to be done and parties to attend.

Advent is meant to shape us. As creatures of time and space, we are shaped by how we spend our time and what we pay attention to. I'm not a shopper, I'm a hunter. I scope out the terrain (through newspaper ads), find my prey, and swoop in for the kill, all of which is accomplished in the least amount of time. Other people love to walk through the aisles finding bargains or just admiring interesting items. They know what time of year the best sales can be found or when the interesting merchandise is put out. They know the mall parking lot like the back of their hand. Their lives are shaped by shopping.

Do we give that kind of attention to the seasons of the Christian year? Do we enjoy the changes in the seasons that remind us of Jesus' birth, events of his life, events of his death and resurrection, and the founding of his Church? Do we know the stories and the traditions and the colors of the Christian seasons?

I was raised to not have a lot of regard for the Christian year. Sure, Christmas and Easter were important, but the notion of a rhythm to the year was thought to be too Roman Catholic for a good Baptist kid. So I was raised with a hunting mentality: bypass Advent and Lent, forget Pentecost, just swoop in and grab what's necessary for Christmas and Easter.

But over the years I've become a holy-day shopper, learning to slow down and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Christian year and have my life shaped by the annual cycle of days and seasons repeating the story of God's love and redemptive activity in our world. The music, the prayers, the colors, and other traditions have become ways that God can shape my heart.

So this Advent season: hunt for gifts and shop for grace.