Adam McHugh, the author of Introverts In The Church, has written a valuable personal reflection on the disconnect between the business of Christmas and the call for an internal renewal being espoused in the Christian community’s season of Advent. Online at Ooze.com and on his own blog at Introverted Church, the article speaks for what I suspect is a significant proportion of people attending Christmas-related worship events this year.
“I experience a deep division within myself during Advent. My inner world stirs with longings for deep experiences of grace, for moments of pregnant silence, for times of candlelit reflections on the fullness of deity wrapped in a child. But my outer world is harassed by the rampant activity, the hurried crowds, and the consumeristic clutter of the season”
Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture
Adam’s writing largely from his experience of the North American church. It’s a little different here in the Southern hemisphere. We don’t generally go in for “waiting” in Advent services held on candle lit winter nights. The Christmas/New Year period here is generally a time for active outdoor living over summer. We wind down from our usual work so we can relax more. But down under we still strongly associate Christmas with extrovert behaviour. Why do we choose this time of year to write family updates, send Christmas cards and ask who people will be with for Christmas?
I’m looking forward to reading Adam’s book in January.