It's almost here, can you feel it?  Preparations have been underway for months: announcements have been made(though in this case not by angelic choirs), construction of the sanctuary is almost complete, ferry routes added, hotels booked.  Most importantly, kiddos, young people, and, truth be told, many adults are giddy with excitement, counting the sleeps.  For in just over a week "god," I mean, "goddess" shows up!  Dec 6,7,8 are the appointed dates, B.C. Place the venue, Taylor Swift is coming to town! For "swifties," she has almost a messianic meaning, providing feel-good guidance for life through songs that express and channel an incredibly wide array of emotional touch points.

For many people the concert will be one of the highlights of their lives; I hear the shows are incredible!  Part of what makes it special is the anticipation, the preparations and the joyful yearning for the moment to arrive.   People don't just "show up" at a Swift show, they've already imagined what it will be like.

Our Great Tradition has understood that "the coming of God among us" is indeed the greatest event that can be imagined short of the transformation of Creation itself, but that without adequate anticipation and preparation this "coming" (the Latin word is advent) becomes just another "season," just another holiday that we either mildly enjoy or, depending on predisposition, endure.

Advent is the season conceived to provide us with some sense of the "joyful expectation" with which Israel longed for her Messiah.  It is a time to give voice to prayers long hidden, to recognize that we too need fresh deliverance from the myriad "masters" that are not God. 

The rituals of Advent can be as simple as holding before us its themes (Hope, Peace, Joy and Love).  Lighting a candle and giving voice to our longing that they be realized in us and in our world might seem as weak as "counting the sleeps," but our simple actions that express our desire make the culmination of the season that much more meaningful, indeed transformative.

Advent is the beginning of our Church Year and each part of the year connects with an aspect of our humanity that, in turn, connects us to the Mystery of Christ and Christ's New Humanity.  Advent's "logic" gives voice to our "joyful expectation" without which we will never stretch ourselves, never hope for and participate in the grand adventure of Life that is our birthright.

Pop stars come and Pop stars go (culture critics are already debating whether Swift will have the staying power of the Beatles), and each of them connects to the "coming-of-age" realities present in the culture of the time.  This Advent, I encourage you to consider again, or for the first time, that though Christ came, he never stops "coming," he never stops stirring up the joyful expectation of lives changed and a world called to account.