A chalice and advent wreath share the altar at Starr King UU Church in Hawyard, CA.
Advent is a season of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the nativity of Jesus. The name derives from the Latin adventus, meaning "coming." Marked over the course of the four Sundays before Christmas, Advent is traditionally celebrated with an advent wreath: a ring of evergreen with three purple candles and one pink one (or four purple candles) that represent: Hope, Love, Joy (pink) and Peace.
(In Eastern Orthodox churches, which use the Julian calendar, Advent begins earlier and lasts 40 days rather than four weeks.)
Faith Without Borders
For everything there is a season—a time to die and a time to be born. With the arrival of winter’s low dark sky, communities around the world look to the miracle of light as a sign of rebirth and a source of hope. We celebrate the promise of new life and recommit ourselves to the protection of everyone’s right to his or her own radiant humanity.
Celebrating the winter holidays, thus, is an excellent opportunity for Unitarian Universalist congregations to express their commitment to our Sixth Principle: We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. See Sixth Principle Resources for winter holidays.
Unitarian Universalist Perspectives
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Your first Christmas, your last Christmas, this Christmas, and the redemption of the whole world are all happening right now, forever.Meditation | By Quinn G. Caldwell | December 14, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Advent, Awe, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, God, Redemption, Spirituality, Tradition, Wonder -
A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more. ~ Matthew 2:18 I read those words aloud from the pulpit once a year, on Christmas Eve: a night when we celebrate the birth of hope and possibility and...Meditation | By Lisa Doege | December 3, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Advent, Birth, Brokenness, Children, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hope, Judaism, Parents, Peace, Violence -
During the Advent season, we celebrate the qualities of faith, hope, love, and joy. Yet these must be viewed through the prism of paradox. No Faith is worthy without the capacity to doubt all things—for then it is only credulity. No Hope is possible without the specter of defeat in the wings—for...Meditation | By David O. Rankin | May 28, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Discernment, Doubt, Faith, Hope, Leadership, Love, Sorrow, Wisdom, Worry
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Like those shepherds who were on the hillsides with their flocks, like those wise ones in their observatories with their telescopes and astronomical charts, we find our daily work interrupted by these holidays. Like them, we can’t keep on working, we have to listen to singing angels, we have to...Meditation | By Mary Wellemeyer | May 13, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Awe, Beginnings, Calling, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Journey, Searching, Vision, Work
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‘Tis the Season . . . of advertisers run amok and ambitions amplified beyond belief . . . of Martha Stewart moments mixed with desert island dreams . . . when even the most dedicated holiday-hopper admits perfection isn’t possible and “good enough” is how the season ought to be. ‘Tis the...Meditation | By Maureen Killoran | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Prayer Practices
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Emmanuel means "God is with us." Who is your Emmanuel? Who is your "God is with us," the one you were promised, the one you have been waiting for? For the ancient prophet Isaiah, he was a boy soon to be born who would guide the people of Judah back to peace and harmony with God....Meditation | By Sarah Movius Schurr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Beauty, Belief, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, God, Listening, Searching, Tradition, Transcendence, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder