A Child's Advent: A Time for Storytelling and Quiet Prayer
Contemporary and ethnic folk carols for elementary school children set in a comfortable singing range and useful for liturgical and classroom needs. Jack MiffletonHave you had the experience of telling a story to a young child, and after arriving at the ending—“They all lived happily ever after”—the child looks at you and asks, “What happened next?” A sequel is born. Endings often point to new beginnings. It is the stuff of fairy tales, and yet real human fears and hopes lie hidden in this simple question of a child, “What happened next?” What Will Tomorrow Bring? Both adults and children face the hopes and fears of tomorrow with some ambiguity. Sometimes we look to the future with joy and eagerness, at other times with insecurity and dread. There is a part of us that never gets enough love, joy, care or attention. Our cry is: “When can we do this again?” Or from a child: “Tell me that story again.” Yet, another part of us is like jealous King Herod who fears what the future will bring in this new birth. Christ, The Promise These feelings of fear and hope are imbedded in the human story. Our ancestors in the northern hemisphere fortified themselves against the fear of losing the sun’s warmth and light by celebrating its rebirth on the longest night of the year. In this ritual fear was given a promise. Today, we also need to allay our fears and lift our hopes. As Christians our promise is Christ the Lord. The season of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany embodies this promise in a gradually unfolding festival that proclaims the fulfillment of all in Christ. The Advent Within Using a host of images traditionally associated with Christ’s coming in Bethlehem, the liturgies of Advent point to the second coming. As Christ's body in the world and as living witnesses to his work, we have already entered the new age. As Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) wrote in A Letter to a Young Poet: “The future enters into us in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens” (Letter 8, Borgeby gard, Fladie, Sweden: August 12, 1904). Advent introduces the “not yet” and reveals the future promise within us. At baptism children become members of Christ and dwellings of the Holy Spirit, but catechesis is required for the promise within to flower. Advent is an opportunity for a child’s ongoing initiation into the Church. A child’s Advent is a time of anticipation and controlled excitement, a time for quiet prayer, storytelling and peacemaking. The Christ of Christmas—The Christ of Glory It is helpful for liturgical preparers for children to look at Advent, Christmas and Epiphany not as completely different liturgical events but as a unified festival in the same way as the Triduum (Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday) is an extended celebration of the Easter event. This works as an aid against the over-historicizing of Advent and Christmas. The Jesus of Bethlehem has had his epiphany. Our liturgical and personal challenge is to experience Christ the Lord now. The Christ of our Christmas is the Christ of Glory, now present and whose fullness we await. A Manger in Your Heart As children expand their religious experiences of Christmas beyond the infant of Bethlehem, the meaning of Advent and Epiphany will mature as well. For in this season we celebrate not just what happened to Jesus, but what happens to us because of the Incarnation of Jesus. The Scriptures, stories and prayers of Advent and the Nativity are our points of entry into this mystery with our children. The poetry of the season offers a multiplicity of meanings—historical, theological and personal. In a poem called “It Depends on You,” the seventeenth century mystic, Angelus Silesius, paints a simple but challenging picture for the child in us to ponder. A manger for his birth, Then God will once again Become a child on earth.* *“Make a Manger in Your Heart” is a new Advent/Christmas hymn for children based on this text. It can be found in the collection, The Gift of Our Friends, or as an octavo available for downloading (OCP 20394Z). Jack Miffleton is a teacher and musician. His songs are sung in classrooms and churches around the world. He is theological consultant and music director for the I Am Special program published by OSV Publications. He teaches music at Saint Jarlath School in Oakland, California, is married and has a grown son. |
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