You know, weekends just aren't conducive to extra Advent activities. We've had a very good weekend with lots of time together as a family, lots of long-put-off chores getting done, and lots of good food eaten. Oh, and I bought a gorgeous maternity dress to wear to Sarah's wedding, which makes me happy. The fact that it was on clearance for $20 also makes me happy. :)
We also went to church this morning and heard a really really good sermon. Fr. David talked about how John the Baptist didn't tell the people who came to him, "sell everything you have and give the money away" or "take a year off work to go on pilgrimage". Those are the sorts of things that it is quite easy to justify not doing. After all, you just can't afford to take a year off work! Instead, John told the tax collectors to be honest. He told the soldiers (from the occupying army, no less!!) to be satisfied with their pay and not to take things from the people by force. He told "the crowd" simply to be generous. All things that are, well, easy to do. You certainly can't argue that he's asking too much! Only when you try to live them out day to day, they're kind of hard.
John told the people how to live to prepare for the coming of the Christ. We're not in such a different situation now, really. We, too, are preparing for Christ's coming, and we are to do so in the same simple ways. Be generous. Be honest. Be content. And in doing so, I find that it is much easier also to follow Paul's exhortation to the Philipians (another of this week's lessons) to "Rejoice in the Lord always."
Come to think of it, maybe enjoying and thinking about an Advent sermon counts as an Advent activity. :)
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