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Links

The Bible Gateway
Read the Bible in various translations and languages.

Calvary Advent Calendar
With a link to a different Scripture verse and music for every day from December 1 to 24.

Advent Memories

by Traute Klein, biogardener

My childhood Advent memories are filled with light in darkness, with singing and prophecies, with love and redemption. This article is illustrated with paintings which I did on the subject.

Memories Are Healing

I grew up in the middle of the war to end all wars. You might think that I had a painful childhood. Far from it. I was surrounded by love, a love which overshadowed the pain of war, a love which overcame the horrors all around us. In the last few years, I started sharing some of the painful memories of that time, events about which I have never talked before. My goal has been to show that man has not changed in the last 60 years and that conflict cannot be solved by more conflict.

North Americans keep urging me to share more of my war stories, but I much prefer to tell you of the many wonderful memories which outweigh the negative ones. Today I want to tell you about one of my favorite season, a season which my family celebrated daily during the month of December, a season which is threatened by the noise of modern commercialism.

Childhood Memories of Advent

All year long I looked forward to the Advent season. That was the time when we would daily sing together as a family, not just on Sunday afternoons as we did the rest of the year. On the day before the first Sunday in Advent, my mother wound the advent wreath, and I helped her. There was nothing quite as satisfying for this little girl as watching the candles burn on a wreath which I had helped to assemble.

On the first Sunday of Advent, I anxiously awaited the dusk, because that was the time when we would place the wreath on the table, gather the family around, light the first candle, and sing Advent carols. The sparse light on the wreath contrasted with the darkness all around us. When we ran out of Advent carols, we would continue with Christmas carols. The more the better. I just wanted to sing. I loved to sing, and I still do.

We continued this practice for the four Advent Sundays, lighting an extra candle each Sunday.

We also had a shorter celebration at dusk on the other six days of the week, and the highlight of the celebrations was the opening of the day's new window on our family Advent calendar. No, there were no toys or chocolates in those windows. Those do not signify the meaning of the season. Advent in Latin means "the coming" or "the arrival," and it points to the expected coming of Jesus, the Light of the World, into darkness. Our Advent calendar displayed a different prophecy regarding the coming of the Messiah, starting in the book of Genesis and ending with the birth of Jesus on December 24 and 25.

I remember those prophecies, because we read them from the same calendar every year.

The Advent Gospel According to John

Whereas the Advent and Christmas stories in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke present characters and events as they occurred during the time when Jesus was born, the Gospel of John presents it in the way in which I experienced it during those family Advent celebrations, through the prophecies of the Old Testament. His story starts at the beginning of time, and he follows it all the way to the completion of redemption at Calvary.

The first verse of John's gospel refers back to the first verse of Genesis, "In the beginning ..." John then alludes to the prophecies of the Old Testament, the ones we read from our family Advent calendar, he talks about the coming of light into the world in the form of the Anointed One. He ends by pointing to the finished work of redemption, "Behold the Lamb of God, ..."

Light into Darkness

In the summer of 2000, I painted two watercolors which are based on this first chapter of the Gospel of John, especially on verse 5:
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

The first of these paintings, the one with the crown of thorns around the star/cross, was chosen for an international juried art show with an Advent theme. It is showing at the Mennonite Heritage Gallery, the most beautiful art gallery in Winnipeg, in November and December 2000. Artists from New York to Japan have sent their work for this exibit.

The Christmas star signifies the coming of light into darkness, and it points to the completion of redemption at Calvary where we are assured that the light will never be overcome by darkness. That is the message of John 1:5:

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

About the Paintings

Note: Hold the mouse over the pictures
to read the captions.
The picture title applies to both paintings
Light into Darkness
Based on John 1:5, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

Date: August 2000 and September 2000
Medium: Watercolor
Picture Size: full size watercolor sheet, 22 x 30
Frame size: 30 x 38 Mat off white, frame black

If I ever learn to take better photographs with a digital camera, I will replace these pictures with others which will show the true colors. Or maybe I will try again to scan the pictures in strips with a handheld scanner.

The Story behind the Pictures

The Old Testament prophecies as well as John's manner of talking about Advent, the coming of Christ, have occupied my thinking for several years, and pictures appear in my mind's eye to illustrate them. I have made pencil sketches of them, and these two paintings are the first to have materialized from the sketches.

Every aspect of the pictures has symbolic significance: the objects, the shapes, the colors, and especially the numbers of items, because number symbolism has been a lifelong interest of mine.

The Scripture Text

The entire Bible text can be found in various English translations and in many different languages at "The Bible Gateway," linked in the left column. The following version is modified and shortened.

John Chapter 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.

This true light was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to into his own, but his own did not receive him, yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the only conceived son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Apostle John then quotes John the Baptist referring to Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecies throughout the Old Testament. He concludes with the ultimate fulfillment of redemption, toward which the Christmas star points:

"Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

© Traute Klein, biogardener