COLUMN: Reflecting on ‘the most wonderful time of the year’
Published 1:00 pm Monday, December 15, 2025
The other day I put up my pitiful Christmas tree, which has definitely seen better days.
One of the legs has broken off, so if it’s going to serve me over the holidays, I have to prop one side of it up with a small pile of books. It still keeps falling over.
When I look at my little tree, with the decorations put on it in a haphazard way (I’m not good at these things), it makes me think of my childhood when my mom put up and decorated our family tree — and it was always done so very well.
Lights shone in the right spots.
Tinsel was placed here and there with its reflective effect.
Bulbs were distributed tastefully as well. I never grew tired of looking at our tree, admiring its qualities, and of course the presents piled underneath as well.
Christmas is different now that I’m ‘grown up’.
I still love the season — the music, the gifts, the get-togethers, and the sense of good-naturedness felt around the community. I also love the tradition of Advent, which I now pay closer attention to as I attend a church that observes it.
In effect, it helps to ‘put the brakes’ on what is often the rushed feeling of the holidays.
Let’s face it — every season, many say next Christmas will be different. They will try to avoid the commercial craziness and focus more on what they say matters most. But often, the ‘busyness’ of the holidays wins out.
Meanwhile, Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Dec. 25th. Churches mark it in differing ways, but it can include scripture readings and lighting a candle each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.
Chris Armstrong, in his article Advent: Close Encounters of a Liturgical Kind, shared of his thoughts of how the tradition impacts him. “In the protected, quiet times of meditation, I can respond as I imagine believers have done on every Advent since the tradition began: I can bow my head and prepare my heart to receive the One who is always present, but who seems distant in the busyness of the season.
“I can mourn for my hardness of heart. I can hope in his grace. And I can rejoice that in answer to the cry, O come, O come, Emmanuel, he came.”
Malcolm Guite writes of a time when friends of his went to Greece, and they were staying in rural areas. They were from London, and it had been a long time since they had seen the pure brightness of the stars because light pollution in London is so pervasive.
Guite noted that part of the reason Advent has been lost is that we suffer from ‘liturgical light pollution’.
“We’re so focused on the glitz and glamour around Christmastime, we’re missing this season of preparation. It’s a promise that even in the waiting – Advent is the season of waiting – that there will be renewal and hope.”
Back to my childhood for a second. A favourite memory of mine had nothing to do with gifts. After a big dinner, me and my relatives would pile into the car Christmas Eve to attend the late service at Gaetz United Church in Red Deer.
I remember the flickering effects of the candles on the intricately-designed stained glass windows. The carols that were sung and the true meaning of Christmas being shared through a message and scripture readings.
I remember those services like they were days ago – a youngster surrounded by grown-ups, marvelling that I was up so late, and taking in the wonder of it all.
Another highlight for me as a boy was visiting City Hall Park, which featured a nativity scene complete with Mary, Joseph, the wise men and of course the baby Jesus. As author Philip Yancey points out, this humble event of the Nativity, “That divided history, and even our calendars, into two parts, had more animals than human witnesses.” But heaven and earth connected.
“For an instant, the sky grew luminous with angels.”
Fast forward to today.
We live in troubled times. There is plenty to worry about, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed and burdened.
In the middle of all that, Christmas offers us hope. Advent points to the heart of the season – the birth of Christ – and to me, that’s the best part of it all. It’s also a time to think more about others, re-orient ourselves to having more of a giving nature (that hopefully lasts all year long), and move into the New Year with a renewed perspective on what really matters.
