The Blue of Advent

As a child we used to play a game called “kick-the-can.” Many of you remember this game and some in our congregation I am sure still play it. It us a game that can be played almost anywhere and at any time. All that is needed is a group of willing bodies and a can; and plenty of places to run and hide.

There is a certain time that is always best for the game. It was the time when light bled into dark; that in-between time of day. When we played “kick-the-can” we would start after school. Hiking up into the back part of my parent’s property, where the trees grew closer together, we would set up the boundaries. By the time the rules were discussed voted on, vetoed, renegotiated, reviewed, corrected and finally adopted the sun began its descent. A player was chosen to be “it” first and the rest of us would scatter into the woods, trying our best to melt into our surroundings.

While playing this game I made a decision about my favorite color. Hiding among the sword ferns, just to the north of a tree, trying not to breathe too loud, I looked down the hill out over Lake Sammamish to the west. The sun had just set and the cool of the night air settled in. The sky had changed from that pale-water-color-blue to that dark-not-quite-night-blue. I remember crouching there soaking in that color like it was manna for tomorrow. It soon disappeared like all flitting, holy, thin places do, but that experience will always be with me. The color reminded me so much of what it meant to know that I was of this world; that just my witnessing that particular moment said that God was alive. But then I was on the move, having heard the crackle of sticks under boot.

That blue that I remember filled me with what I like to call Advent-Hope-Blue. When I first learned abut the meaning of the colors of the Church year in confirmation, I connected this memory with quiet times and hope for peace. Waiting there in the sword ferns I felt connected all at once with the world and my creator God. As I learned more about this God from the community that raised me in the faith, I built on this memory. I have come to understand that Advent is a time for renewal and anticipation. It is a good time to reflect on life and community; to share with those around me the hope we have in this returning Christ. The Blue of Advent is a color that reminds us of the hope we have in a God who loved us so much that he sent his son to earth in the form of the must vulnerable of individuals, a baby.

As I wait and watch this Advent season my prayer is that you will find time to worship each Sunday leading up to Christmas. That you find time each day to be still and quiet. This is a time away from a culture that does not want you to wait but demands that you rush, rush, rush. God wants us to be quiet at this time of year; to slow down and to meditate on his Word; to be enveloped in the blue of the season; to be given new hope and new courage.

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High … Luke 1:30-32