Some of my friends may not know that I was raised in a presbyterian church. Although I am now baptist and even married to the baptist preacher, there is one presbyterian thing that I hold on to year after year:
The tradition of lighting the advent wreath.
The four weeks leading up to Christmas get so full of fun, family-centered traditions, Hallmark movies, and busy-ness that a family can easily let the true meaning of Christmas slip away without even realizing it. In our secular world, effort must be made to keep Christ at the center of Christmas, and lighting the advent wreath is one way that our family pauses and remembers "the Reason for the season."
The wreath is a perfect circle of evergreen with four candles, reminding us of our eternal God. Every week leading up to Christmas, a candle, each with a different meaning, is lit.
As we begin our advent season today, we light the purple HOPE candle. Christ came to Earth to die for our sins, and now we can have a hope that the world does not understand.
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