I really take great exception to being told what God loves or likes or disapproves or wants or doesn't want. I do agree that we needn't be taking ourselves too seriously during this Advent. Or any Advent as far as that is concerned. More to the point, we need to be reminded that we are reacquainting ourselves with the arrival of Jesus. Of course, we have the advantage of knowing how the story goes -- so far. Resurrection is part of the story for us. But it isn't the end of the story. None of us knows the end of the story. That is why we need to be reminded about how the story plays out. The birth of Jesus kind of comes in the middle of it all. First there is creation. The birth and resurrection are the middle part of the story. We don't know how the end plays out. What we are doing in Advent is to remember the part of the story that brings Jesus into this world. Sometimes the secular traditions of the Christmas get in the way of the birth story. That is the challenge, to try to maintain a balance in our own lives of the sacred story and our secular traditions. Important to "lighen up" and not let it all overwhelm us.
