In Praise of Advent

 One of my favorite things about the Catholicism I recall from my childhood was psychological accuracy and discipline of concepts like Advent and Lent. It was probably not till I got into college and started "studying" Theology that I even realized what they were. Rest assured, as a kid I thought they were about giving up candy. I did not understand what was actually occurring was the individual discipling him/herself, earning the right to celebrate, in a sense making oneself worthy. In retrospect, I like it even more because it was a very democratic notion--that everybody, rich, poor and otherwise was supposed to mind the season. 

The concept of Advent as mindful restraint with a rationale, was violated big time by the business community this year when they started stocking Christmas before Halloween. The idea of restraint in any form is an anethema because it inhibits buying. I understand why small businesses must go along with it, but not why wealthy corporations like Walmart and Amazon chart this course. They certainly don't need the money, but inflation means some people aren't buying anything.

I understand even less why people go along with it. What seems revealing is who is going along. Most of the older folks (sometimes wiser in spite of ourselves!) don't. We understand why business does what it does, but we know we are entitled to protect our customs, concepts like Advent and what is psychologically valuable even though it runs counter to the business goal of making as much money as possible.  No matter what is sacrificed in doing so. We can protect our own culture and what is good about it by keeping our own council, preserving what is good, despite the commercialization urging us to do otherwise. But everybody has to do it.