“There’s nothing wrong with hope in the not yet, but it begins with gratitude for the already. So this year, instead of trying to compete with the urgency and volume of commercial Christmas advertisements, I’ll try a quite alternative. I have a hunch that the noisy gong or clanging cymbal of ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’ and ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ can’t compete with the whispers of Advent. . . the quiet faith of ‘Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence’ . . . or the gentle hope of ‘Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus’ . . . or the joyous love of ‘People, Look East.’
Bring it on, commerce. If the gifts God has in store for us bear any resemblance to the gifts we’ve already received, it’s going to be hard to convince me there’s anything I need to buy.”
Christine Chakoian, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, from “Reflections on the Lectionary” in Christian Century magazine November 15, 2011)