Searching For The Sacred

On a walk in mid-September, my husband and I noticed our neighbors putting up Halloween decorations. The decorations weren’t just the standard pumpkins, hay barrels and scarecrows that I remember from when I was little, but instead yards consumed with skeletons, blow-up monsters, witch caldrons, and zombies.

Just a few weeks later, I walked down aisles glittering with Christmas bulbs, mini trees, giant foam candy canes, and a rainbow of nutcrackers.

These early and over-the-top decorations cause a sense of panic to wash over me. I experience two things at once: I felt pressure to rush (I’m so behind!) into the next special thing. And, I simultaneously wonder, “What is going on inside of us humans when it comes to holidays?”

First, that sense of panic makes me unable to be present. We’re all subjected to hurry-up-and-buy by our consumer culture. We’re bombarded with Christmas decorations in October and lured into back-to-school-shopping at the beginning of July.

I feel as though I am constantly fighting a battle to remain present in the current moment and to savor what the Lord has for me in the present.

Second, I am realizing that these hyperbolic decorations are a symptom of something deeper happening within the souls of all of us: the search for the sacred. Exaggerated holiday décor, graduation celebrations after every grade level and the creativity and picture-worthy gender-reveal parties may bring a sense of celebration and may bring people together, but what if they are merely placeholders or stand-ins for things that are truly sacred?

When we make every life moment an extravagant celebration – and normalize high standards for all the things – we begin to wonder: is anything truly sacred anymore? (And, why am I so tired and joy so fleeting?)

As human beings, created in the image of God, we are drawn to the sacred.
We have been formed with a deep longing to be connected to the Creator.

When we are not filled with God, we fabricate ideas, events and objects to fill this longing. My good friend Krysta said while discussing our longing for the sacred, “Notice the people singing along at a Taylor Swift concert with tears in their eyes. It’s church. They want God but don’t know how to access Him, so they attend big concerts to get a sense of unity and communion…” (Nothing against Taylor and I will gladly accept tickets.) This feeling that we chase at a concert is just a shell or a shadow of what true communion with the sacred is.

So, how do we pull ourselves out of the fray to be present and to find the sacred?

One tool that I use is the Christian calendar. There are practices and a rhythm that Christians have engaged in for centuries to orient themselves toward the sacredness of God and His redemptive Story that we, as the modern-day church, can practice too.

The seasons of the Church Calendar include preparation (Advent), celebration (Christmas, Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost), remembrance (Lent) and ones for growing (also known as Ordinary Time). The seasons serve as guardrails, or reminders, to remain present in the moment versus rushing toward the next special thing.

It’s December now, so we’re in the season of Advent, and I’d like to invite you to celebrate Christ in three ways, just as the ancient Church did:

• Remember the initial coming of Christ in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago
• Notice how God shows up in your daily life through the working of the Holy Spirit
• Joyfully anticipate the second coming of Christ in the future.

And how can we do this? We stay present to God’s presence today. We stay in the season we’re in instead of skipping ahead to the next.

We slow down. We do a daily Advent reading or light a candle each evening and reflect on the moments we felt the nearness of God throughout the day.

This season of preparation and anticipation will provide a deeper appreciation for Christmas and a more joyful celebration.

When we choose to honor the season we’re in – like Advent – we are not being pulled and pushed by our culture and the never-ending to-do lists. Instead, we are intentionally posturing ourselves toward God, seeking Him to fulfill our human longing for the sacred. When we’re searching for the special, for the sacred, what we’re actually longing for is an intimate relationship with our Creator.