An Arctic Advent

Written by Mary Fleming

If you live under a rock, you won't have heard.  But, everyone else is talking about how fast time is passing these days!
This coming Sunday, November 27, 2011 will be Advent 1 already!  Time to set up the advent wreath and candles if that is your tradition.

The family in which I grew up was church-year oriented in the Anglican tradition.  So, Advent was a steady preparation for the family-centred Christmas celebration of the birth of our Saviour.  What gorgeous memories!  Christmas carols were saved till Christmas Eve.  Advent was reserved for advent carols in the tradition of British cathedral choirs and almost sombre hymns reflecting on earth's and our own darkness before the coming of Jesus.

Today, I want to share with you some Christmas preparation music in the spirit of Advent.  When I saw and heard this video for the first time, it took me back to times spent in the Arctic around Bathurst Inlet, north of Yellowknife and the Arctic Circle.  There is an Inuit community there which developed around an abandoned RCMP outpost.  A retired RCMP officer and his family developed it into a lodge where people would come from all over the world to experience arctic life through the eyes of the hunters who were our guides.  As tourists, we marvelled at the Inuit staples of life - muskoxen, grizzlies, cariboo, peregrine falcons, arctic char, seals and wolves.  

Arctic people understand darkness … the twenty-four hours a day kind.  When you understand darkness, you appreciate the light.  There, the missionaries came and planted the seeds of a church where trees cannot grow.  And, it was there that we met John Stott who loved all kinds of nature, but especially birds.  We participated in a special service as John baptized several Inuit children and adults.  They had not been visited by a priest for several years.  So, I am thinking of him, just deceased this year.  This video reminds me of the spiritual fruit from dedicated lives of service such as his and the missionaries before him.  Before we spoke of faith-based travel, missionaries and incarnational servants such as John were bringing the Light into the dark, faraway places of the world.  You and I are called to go and do likewise.

Please watch, listen and worship.  Worship the baby, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Marvel at how His love can connect people of all races, and be relevant in any climate.  He is the Light that enlightens all mankind.  Enjoy!  And, please share your comments.   I hope you have a holy Advent season.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyviyF-N23A