100 years of Advent

We worshipped yesterday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Reston, Va. and the homily given was wonderfully poignant and very down to earth.  It was a "get real" look at our Advent preparations for Christmas....

that all the doing and stuff and fluff will in the end remain broken, disappointing, and a challenge to store more....

so what to trim away?  what to keep and highlight?  what to pull out and always include? So maybe 2000 years of Advent are a little bit overwhelming to take a look at...
so I focus on the last 100 years of Advent.

100 year old post card

I have a collection of vintage postcards for Christmas.... started years ago when our three daughters were young and I would give them each a dollar and they could pick out Four for $1 postcards....

and somehow their stories have been part of the hunt- not only for the card fronts- but for the long ago and forgotten stories penned on the back usually in pencil---The one above was made in Germany and the words are not English...

Printed in Germany
To Miss Emma Wildermuth
 in Pottsville, PA
 from Grandma

Printed in Germany

To Miss Mary Sauner - Globe Mill Woon, RI

postmarked Woonsocket, RI Dec 23, 1907 at 7 am.
No message at all  and no name of sender

So these postcards-- maybe a bit of Christmas celebration- or perhaps the whole thing....
how long remembered and how soon forgotten?

What will remain of my Advent and Christmas celebrations in 100 years? will someone know the story to tell?  will someone know the Manger story because of something connected for them, through me, this year?

Will my great grandchildren tell the stories of events and traditions in our family and still honor any of them?

I guess that is why each year that more and more-
the things that are the MOST IMPORTANT to get out, display and shed light on in Advent-
the Manger, the Christ Child, this young family of Hope--
becomes the thread of Christmas past that brings Glory to Him as we celebrate--

and lays the steps into future generations of ADVENT.