The joys of Advent and a coming attraction [and poll]

If it bothers you that Christmas carols begin before Halloween -

If you just plain don't like the fixation on buy, buy, buy -

If you'd like to recapture quiet and reflection -

Join me and others in keeping Advent.

Advent is sometimes called the "little lent," but it is a joyful time. If you've never heard of Advent, or you'd like to learn about some Advent customs, join me over the fold (and for the coming attraction)

"Advent" means "coming" in Latin, and it is the season before Christmas. In the older way of keeping Christmas, there were no signs of it before Christmas Eve, when everything magically appeared while the children slept or the family joined in decorating the house together.

Instead of endless Christmas beginning in August, there was Advent. The four Sundays before Christmas and the days through Christmas Eve make a season that can be marked in a number of ways, some of which lend themselves well to a secular variation.

Advent is a time to simplify - some fast (skipping lunch or eating a light one) and give the money saved to the hungry, some go through their things to see what there is that someone else needs more than they do, some cut down or out on things like TV, games or shopping.

It is a time to reflect - on where we've been, on where we're headed, and where we want to end up. So some folks set aside time for reflection in Advent - time for focused reading, time for journals, time for prayer, time for meditation.

It is a time for quiet hopefulness and anticipated joy. One lovely way to mark it is with an Advent wreath with four candles - three purple or blue and one pink (for the third Sunday). One more candle is lighted each week, so the evening meal is brightened with a growing light of promises to come. I love that there are blue and purple lights now, so I trim with strings of blue and strings of white lights. Only the blue are lit during Advent. When the white ones are added Christmas Eve it is a vivid reminder that the smaller lights can keep us going until the greater ones come.

My parents began a custom of marking the season concretely. All through Advent a small Joseph and Mary would travel toward an empty stable, where an infant Jesus appeared overnight. Then for the twelve days of Christmas the wise men came.

Part of my own practice is to "fast" from news (except Sundays). Since this includes Daily Kos, I will be gone soon though stopping by on Sundays. A bunch (some might say a plethora) of activist groups have my address, so I do keep up some activism through that route.

And that coming attraction? I am an Iowa caucus goer who is somehow undecided. If I am still undecided after Advent, and much reading and discussing, I will post a diary on Dec. 26th inviting you to convince me of your favorite candidate.