Change, Tradition and Preparing Spiritually this Advent Season
In a recent article entitled, “’Big Data’ Technology’s Frontier” in the Drexel University iSchool Magazine, “Bridge,” entrepreneur Yori Milner is cited, stating that “in any 48-hour period in 2010, more data was created that had been created by all of humanity in the past 30,000 years. Science measured that the year 2010 amounted to roughly 1250 billion gigabytes of data, or more bits than all of the stars in the universe, with a growth of 58% per year.” This statistic underscored for me the rapid pace of change and the underlying expectation that we are somehow expected to change, too.
When we talk about needing to “think outside the box,” or “go against the grain,” or “expand your horizons,” it seems that we have little choice in the matter when you consider the bombardment of data upon us. Is it any wonder that we sometimes need to take comfort in the things that remain the same?
About a week ago, my wife and I began to take out the Christmas decorations. In between our full schedules, we have been spending an hour here or there placing the decorations. At one point she said to me, “That’s not where that goes,” to which I responded, “I know, I wanted to try something different.” In the conversation that followed, we acknowledged that we were very different in that she remembers exactly how the Christmas décor looks from year to year, and likes it that way. I, on the other hand, may recall generally how it looks, but much prefer to try different things each year. We also recognized this preference in other decisions we make in our lives – traditional and proven approaches to predictable and reliable outcomes verses experimental and creative approaches to unpredictable and new results (some good and some not so good!)
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On Monday, December 3, the student body, faculty and staff gathered in the quad around the large Advent wreath for its blessing by Fr. McLaughlin. I mentioned to the students and staff that the wreath is a constant reminder of the Church’s season of Advent that has been overshadowed by the commercialism of Christmas preparation. In fact, Advent is about preparation just as the vendors of Christmas encourage us to do. The difference is that Advent is a call to prepare ourselves inwardly for Emmanuel – God-with-us. That preparation calls us to be open to changing those things in our lives that will make Christ more present to us. While we still need to decorate the tree and find the perfect presents for those we love, we need to be open to the Holy Spirit, so that opening the presents on Christmas is not the end of the celebration.
And how are do we listen to the Spirit within us, especially with the amount of data and information we are expected to process daily? Dr. Xiaohua Tony Hu at Drexel states, “We are drowning in data and starving for knowledge.” Perhaps one way for us to prepare ourselves inwardly for Christ at Christmas is to “retreat” from the i-phone, the computer screen, and the mall for just a few minutes to be silent, to read something spiritual, to pray extemporaneously or with formal prayers, like the Rosary’s joyful mysteries – a favorite of mine during this Advent time. These moments of retreat for me help provide the level of familiarity and unchanging calm to allow me to reflect and open myself in stillness. It is from these times that I find the focus and the energy to embrace change and to be changed.
On December 16, as part of The Green Concert Series, an Archmere alumni cast supported by a chorus of voices from Saint Joseph on the Brandywine Church will present “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” under the direction of Mary Ellen Schauber, former choral director at Archmere. At one point in the opera, King Melchior sings about the Christ Child: “The Child we seek doesn’t need our gold. He will build his kingdom on love and not wear a crown. His might will not be built by your toil.” The Christ, whom we celebrate at Christmas, changed the world most radically, and for his preaching and teaching of love of God and neighbor as the greatest laws, he was crucified. His resurrection is our hope, in the midst of the changes we embrace that advance his law of love.
During this Advent and Christmas season,, may you, your families and friends, and all whom you love, gain a deeper knowledge of God’s presence in your lives – a spiritual knowledge for which we are “starving,” in an ocean of data.
Archmere Academy is a private, Catholic, college preparatory co-educational academy,
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
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