By Melanie Mar Chow

The hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving is over.  Feasting with family, friends, and others created spaces to align and posture ourselves to be truly thankful. As we turn our calendars to December, we find ourselves with another ritual in Advent to make space for God.

I am grateful for these rituals and traditions that allow us to practice and anticipate the presence of God. I offer Advent calendars to close family and friends. — whatever it takes to practice and make space for engaging the presence of God more in our lives through small daily gifts. My daughter, as . a child, struggled to wait each day to open the numbered door and then collect the gift. But as an adult, there are moments when the fullness of the day makes her miss opening the gift. Regardless, the Advent calendar still serves as a reminder for us to collect anew gifts God has given us each day, and to be people who foster a greater awareness of His presence with us.

Advent allows us to consider our situation with God anew and gain perspective on His presence for those who are attentive.

One of the first Christian books I read as a young adult was Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God. A Carmelite layman in a 17th-century Paris monastery, Brother Lawrence was asked to share how he engaged God’s presence while attending kitchen tasks and repairing sandals.  Because of his ability to pray while doing these chores, many people would approach him for guidance.  His encouragements are now gathered in the aforementioned book and are quoted to this day, ie.“Think often on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your entertainments. He is always near you and with you.”

​The Advent calendar teaches us how we should think. God’s presence is the present that we truly seek. I’m not sure who spoke this thought, but it exposes the pursuit of gifts at Christmas as a distraction rather than God’s intent.  Instead, if we create space for God in this Advent season, we can regain the true meaning of gift-giving by expressing care and generosity, and embrace grace when we choose a gift for them.

What has worked for me the last two weeks was intentionally making SPACE for God. SPACE is an acronym to sense God’s presence with 5 things, one for each day of the week: Monday for Simplicity, Tuesday for Peace, Wednesday as Awareness (daily), Thursday as Charity, and finally Friday as Experiences anew. Then on Saturday, I practice space for mental recovery or rest from my human imperfections.  Sundays are times to be present in community to listen. Case in point, our pastor spoke about Peace this past Sunday, which helped me to see my Monday peace ponderings in relation to the power to proclaim a coming peace in Christ.  

As there are still 5 more days before Advent is over, I will pray for you to engage with God, finding His present to you, before Christmas. As you join me in longing for the coming Christ, as you sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel again, may you come to the realization that indeed Emmanuel means God with us.  Stop waiting and enjoy the presence of Jesus anew this season, and most of all, enjoy the gifts of His grace and peace freely to prepare for all that comes in the New Year.

Rev. Melanie Mar Chow serves God through Asian American Christian Fellowship, the campus ministry division of the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (JEMS). She has been an ordained American Baptist minister since 2004. A Pacific Northwest native, she currently lives with her husband and daughter in Southern California.