Today marked the final Sunday of Advent and the last weekend in our impatient anticipation and excitement of C-Day. Just look around at the 14,832 people who crammed into the Johnstown Galleria Mall looking for last minute sales. Or take a gander at the grocery store’s painstakingly full parking lot. It’s nothing less than a carnival fun house. I triple dog dare you to turn on your radio and find a station not playing Faith Hill’s “Where are you Christmas?” I’ll tell you where Christmas is Faith, it’s everywhere. How did you miss it?!

But the lady’s got a point. Christmas, the Christmas that includes the birth of a Savior, God made flesh, sent to live among us and die for our sins, is kind of lost. I struggled today to find meaning in the mall, the parking lots, or on the radio. I humbly recognize I’m not the first to notice or mention the lack of preparation for the real holiday present. Books, homilies, songs, and even billboards proclaim this obvious phenomenon. But I was fortunate to experience a small moment of Christmas clarity, and it’s worth sharing.
This moment is brought to you by an overly adorable 2 year-old who looked at an advent wreath and pointed to the recently lit, “big purple candle.” This candle, the last to shine, stood the tallest. As any 2 year old does best, she asked “why,” why was it the biggest? I offered a simple answer as she stared at the wreath. I mean she really stared at it. She took it in. She was monetarily mesmerized by that big purple candle.

When was the last time we allowed the big purple candle, the final week before Christmas to mesmerize us? To fill us with the wonder of the season; the strangely satisfying incapability to understand the mystery of Gods unfailing love for His chosen ones. Personally I recommend it. Give your soul an early Christmas gift and sometime in the few upcoming hustling and bustling days, take it in.

It took a 2 year-old to silently remind me of the significance and holiness of this Sunday. But I guess that’s appropriate. After all, it took a baby to redeem the world.

Merry almost Christmas!

Kelsey