Here at Saint Mary’s our life is shaped and ordered by a calendar. In a few weeks, the season of Advent will begin, and we will know it. The look and feel of this place will be transformed. The colors of the vestments will change, the flowers will go away, the music will be different, and we’ll hear words from the Bible that we know very well. And there is a paradox about all that: the sacred calendar by which we live is about change. Each day, week, and season is different. Sometimes the differences are subtle, sometimes they are dramatic. Advent gives way to Christmas and we are glad of it. We rejoice in the change. But, still, those seasonal changes are predictable and familiar, and that familiarity can be very reassuring. We look forward to our favorite Advent hymns. The figures for the Christmas crèche come out of storage—and there they are! We are glad to see them again. We are familiar with their details, right down to the color of that one Wise Man’s shoe and the camel’s weird smile. And there is comfort in all that. Life inevitably brings change, and so it makes sense to look for stability. It makes sense to reach out and embrace the lovely things that stay the same.
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