The thrill of hope
Looking for better things on the first Sunday of Advent.
A Christmas carol made me cry. In May.
I can’t remember what movie I was watching; it may have even just been a film clip I stumbled across on YouTube. I wasn’t watching it because I was seeking out anything Christmas-y in late spring, and I don’t even think Christmas played that big of a deal in whatever I was watching. It was just set dressing; characters were walking through a shopping mall or department store, and a Christmas carol was playing in the background.
And yet, the simple strains of a carol (I think it was “Oh Holy Night”) brought a hitch in my throat and tears to my eyes. As I sat there staring at the screen, expecting nothing more than empty distraction, I caught a whiff of the promise of Christmas. We were only a few months into the pandemic and Michigan’s lockdown, but at that point it felt like it had been going on forever. The familiar melody carried a promise; Christmas would come, this would change. Maybe it would even be gone by then.
In “Oh Holy Night,” they sing about “the thrill of hope,” and I think in that moment I experienced a glimpse of it. May was probably the peak hard time of the pandemic, as both our kids were home, we were isolated from nearly everything, and our work was at its heaviest. In that moment, thinking about a time when the bleak reality of the news and the constant controversies could be replaced by bright lights, warm songs and joyful traditions was like a balm, and I desperately wanted it to arrive.
We’re in the Christmas season now; today is the first Sunday of Advent. The situation we find ourselves in isn’t much different than it was in May. A pandemic still rages. Businesses are closed and most of us are still at home. Most of us are still stressed, anxious and angry. And while this Christmas may be different than I had hoped for, I still find myself caught up in the spirit of the season.
The other night, my wife and I decided to spend an evening out, as best as you can these days. We drove through a Starbucks and bought some hot chocolates and then headed downtown to see the Detroit Christmas tree. As we passed restaurants we loved and places where we often take long walks on date nights, we allowed ourselves to imagine a time when it would be safe to do them again. Next year, I said, when this is lifted, we’re going all out. Ball games, concerts, date nights at fun restaurants. There will be an end to this, and we’re going to live it up. We began to hope for something better.
The first Sunday of Advent is focused on hope, a theme which feels all the more fitting this year. We hope for better news. We hope for a day when this illness is gone. We hope for a Christmas season, even if it’s in the next year, where we can return to our traditions and celebrations. We hope for a future in which the difficulties we face now will be removed and the cloud that’s stuck around for the majority of the year will be lifted.
It might seem unfair that this pandemic continues to rage at a time when we should be gathering with loved ones and enjoying the holiday season. But while this inconvenience may be new, the truth is that our Decembers often feel hectic and exhausting. In normal years, we rush from gathering to gathering and endure long hours at packed shopping malls with inconsiderate shoppers. We sit through fraught family gatherings where discussions can explode into barrages of political in-fighting or the explosion of years of repressed resentments. Our bank accounts dwindle with every purchase. By Dec. 24, we’re often harried and exhausted, ready to collapse instead of celebrate.
There’s always been a part of me that’s seen that as a fitting object lesson for the season. We’re exhausted, stressed, anxious and in need of a reprieve, which comes on Christmas Day when we rest and celebrate. And isn’t that what the season is about? Christmas commemorates God’s answer to our struggles, suffering and longing. Christmas Day is the reminder that we aren’t alone, and that we are loved more than we could ever imagine. Just as God’s people waited 400 years for a reminder that God was still paying attention and would break the silence, we endure the stress, anxiety and frustrations of the season because we believe that on Dec. 25, the experience will be worth it.
This year, we have more of an object lesson in hope and longing. We’re almost nine months into a time of upheaval that has changed our lives drastically. I’ve said before that getting through this pandemic has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and that’s even as I recognize my privilege and blessing, the facts that I have a good job and solid support, and we haven’t gotten sick. Others have had it much harder. And we want it to be over. We want to be able to hug friends and get together with loved ones with no limits, restrictions or anxieties. Rather than let them overtake us this season, my prayer is that we can enter into them and allow that necessary sorrow to mingle with hope. Hope that, just as God answered a need infinitely deeper, He’ll provide an answer to this time of waiting and worrying. Hope that even in the midst of this changed year, we can live in light of the great promise and gift of Christmas and recognize whatever momentary stresses and anxieties we have can’t compare to what we’ve been gifted in Christ. Hope that not only will this trial pass but that the promise of Christmas is that there’s no trial so hard or no barrier so great that it can keep us from the love of God.
Rather than focus on the hardship of this particular holiday, let’s look beyond it and remember that Christmas exists not as an escape from trial but as an answer to them and a promise we can hold to in the midst of them.
Throughout this Advent season, on Sunday I’ll be putting out special Advent emails. The regular Chrisicisms will still arrive on Fridays.
Chrisicisms Advent Calendar
Movies, music and more to help celebrate the season
This is going to work different than the Chrisicisms that appear in my Friday newsletters. Rather than walk you through what I’ve been consuming this week (although sometimes these are things I’m consuming), it’s a day-by-day guide to some Christmas pop culture that I recommend enjoying for this season, or ones that I just have an opinion on. Comment below and share ones that you love!
Monday -- A Muppet Family Christmas: We actually kicked off the Christmas season with this on Thanksgiving night. This special, which aired back in 1987, is still my all-time favorite holiday television shows and one of the great Muppet events. Set around the gang going to visit Fozzie’s mom at her farmhouse, it’s really just an excuse to bring together the casts of The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock for some great musical interludes and silliness. So you have The Swedish Chef trying to cook Big Bird, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem singing “Jingle Bell Rock,” and an extended carol sing, complete with cameo from Jim Henson to close it off. It’s one of the last times the Muppet performers all gathered to create something together, and it’s full of all the anarchy, silliness and sincerity you’d expect. Rights issues have made rereleases hard, and the DVD that exists cuts out some of the best moments, so I highly recommend tracking it down on YouTube.
Tuesday -- Jingle All the Way: I’m only including this because I watched it with my son the other night and he loved it. This is...not a good movie. It starts as a somewhat clever critique of yuletide commercialism but then devolves into unpleasant, sub-Home Alone slapstick. Phil Hartman gets some chuckles as an opportunistic, smarmy neighbor, but everyone else is painfully bad. I don’t know why you’d cast Arnold Schwarzenegger as a regular old suburban dad, but putting him in the role makes the casual assault even more tasteless; when it’s a guy his size doing it, it just looks like bullying. Sinbad, to his credit, plays to the right notes as a sadistic postal worker, but that’s just because Sinbad has a long history of being in crap.
Wednesday -- Snow Angels by Over the Rhine: The Cincinnati-based folk duo Over the Rhine is one of my favorite bands and they’ve put out three Christmas albums, all phenomenal; if you ever have a chance to see them do a Christmas concert live in post-pandemic times, I highly recommend it. I’ll get to some of their other albums in the coming weeks, but Snow Angels is the one I’ve returned to more this Christmas. It’s the perfect mix of holiday hope, melancholy realism and romance. “All I Ever Get for Christmas (is Blue)” feels like a fitting Christmas anthem this year, but it’s followed up by the romantic, bouncy “Christmas is Coming.” There’s the beautiful folk song “Snow Angel” and the sexy, fun “North Pole Man.” This is a great one to play as you pour a glass of wine and sit by the tree.
Thursday -- Community “Regional Holiday Music” (Season 3, Episode 10): I’m glad that Community already seems to be getting some sort of reappraisal from those who missed it on the first go-round and are just catching up with it on Netflix. Dan Harmon’s comedy initially seemed like a quirky college comedy, but very quickly revealed itself to be the weirdest, funniest and most meta of television shows, breaking down genre tropes and clichés even while it celebrated them. The show did several holiday shows worth noting (the stop-motion “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” is a really close contender as the show’s best), but this my favorite. A parody of Glee, it gives the cast ample opportunity to engage in several very funny holiday numbers. I’m particularly fond of Donald Glover and Danny Pudi’s Jehovah Witness rap and Allison Brie’s lampooning of “Santa Baby” and other over-sexed holiday songs, but my favorite moment might just be Chevy Chase tearing into “Baby Boomer Santa” with a glee that he rarely shows. One of the great recent holiday specials.
Friday -- Fatman: We may not be having a theatrical holiday season this year, but we are getting a Christmas movie to remember. Mel Gibson stars as a grizzled Chris Kringle, who’s been subsidized by the U.S. government for ages but is now faced with either shutting down his operation or taking on a contract with the military. Meanwhile, Walton Goggins is a merciless hitman hired to take down the fat man after a nasty rich kid receives a lump of coal. Violent and gritty, it’s basically What if Fox News made a Christmas movie? Taken seriously, it would be a bitter, unpleasant slog. But there are enough hints that directors Eshon and Ian Nelms are in on the joke that it goes down smoothly. This isn’t the dark and edgy Christmas movie the trailers promise, but rather a deadpan joke about what such a movie would look like. Gibson may be a very unlikable man offscreen, but he plays the role here perfectly, giving his Kris a cantankerous edge but also just the right amount of spark. The film has fun with its magical elements, and Goggins is game as ever. It’s an acquired taste, but for those willing to meet it on its wavelength, Fatman is a lot of fun. Available on VOD.
Saturday -- A Very Murray Christmas (Netflix): On the Rocks wasn’t the only time Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray reunited after Lost and Translation. This 2015 Netflix Christmas special gave a hint that there was still magic left in the pairing. The special finds the beloved comedian distraught and stressed as a snowstorm cancels his star-studded Christmas special, and then follows him as he encounters others stranded at a New York hotel and proceeds to make their Christmases special. Bathed in candlelight in a swanky hotel restaurant, this is a gorgeous special and I love that Coppola seems interested in taking a tour of Murray’s different personalities, from the sad clown to the magical sprite to the lounge lizard. There are some really solid musical numbers, from a group singalong to “Fairy Tale of New York” to Maya Rudolph belting out “(Christmas) Baby, Please Come Home” to Murray and Chris Rock muddling through “Do You Hear What I Hear.” By the time the special segues to Miley Cyrus giving a rousing rendition of “Silent Night” and Murray duetting on “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” with George Clooney, it’s entered the annals of the best holiday specials ever.