Most Episcopalians, like most people, think of Advent as the time of getting ready for Christmas. But this is a mistake. For centuries Advent was known as the season of the last things. If you don’t believe me, notice the Advent hymns when you sing them. They aren’t about the birth in Bethlehem at all. Almost all of them are about the second coming. We just read about that: “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Rev. 1:7).
