Back in September, I thought to myself, "Advent is so far away; will it ever get here?"  Of the statement 'Christmas gets sooner and sooner every year', someone once said, "If that were true, wouldn’t we be celebrating Christmas right after Labor Day by now?"   

It is true though that time seems to be passing more quickly.  For Suzanne and me, life after Jack Ezra has been moving at such a rapid pace.  Every time we look at pictures we have taken of him from one week before, we think to ourselves, "Wow...has he changed!"  It seems to be that way with most things in life: hectic schedules, projects at work, extended family commitments.  They all have a way of eating up our days to the point where days, weeks and even months blow buy without even realizing (as a college friend of mine always remarked) "What went with the time?"  That question never made much logical sense to me, and I would always say to him, "Don't you mean, 'Where did the time go?'".  It was only recently that I truly understood the semantics of that phrase.  In our culture of instant gratification where people demand and expect things immediately, it is inevitable that some things get neglected.  The question is what gets top priority?

Advent, to me, is a way of breaking this cycle, for it is a season of waiting.  We know what is to come, we know what we are working towards, yet there is no way of expediting Christmas.  Advent gives us a much needed pause so that we can take a step back from our lives and realize that there are things worth waiting for.  Some of us wait all year just to be able to sing certain hymns: O Come, All Ye Faithful; The First Noel; Silent Night.  Others of us anticipate the Advent Dinner and Program, its wonderful time of fellowship and seeing the kids present their special holiday program.  Still others look to the special Choral Cantata and Bell Sunday that follow.

For us in the music ministry, no time is more special than Advent and Christmas.  We anticipate all the above; the hymns, the kid’s programs, all the special music.  Some would say that Advent is to the music minister what the four weeks proceeding April 15th is to a CPA.  This holds much truth; however the whole truth is that the Church Calendar Year gives us three pinnacle moments: Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.  One is constantly transitioning from one to another, preparing for the next celebration, sometimes before the dust even settles from the last.  That is why I love the Advent Season.  Working in the Church does not exempt one from getting caught up in the busyness of life.  Therefore, I ask you all to join me and all of those who work to lead the music ministry here at Covenant in slowing down (maybe even stopping for a moment) and wrapping our minds around the mystery and miracle for which Advent is preparing us.  That our Savior was born, as we were all born, walked this earth as we all do, and died, as we all will.  Yet He did this, not to get ahead in this life, but to prepare a way for us all to the next life, the one where there will be no worrying about the mundane, only basking in the glory of life eternal with our Heavenly Father.

Bryan Page