Ahhh, the lights. The colors. The carols. The cookies. The parties. There is only one time of year that combines all of these in such a lovely array: Christmas. Now that we are in the Christmas season, it certainly is the most wonderful time of the year, isn't it?

		The Rev. N. Graham Standish is pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople (www.calvinchurchzelie.org).

Isn't it?

Actually, for many people this time of year is anything but wonderful. It's stressful, filled with too many tasks, too many events and too much sugary food that saps too much of our energy. It's not the most wonderful time of the year, but the most overwhelming. As a pastor, counselor and spiritual director, I often hear people (who are sometimes in tears) complain about how difficult this time of year is. They feel crushed by the constant activity and pressure to do everything, and to do it perfectly.

For years, those of us in the field of religion have proclaimed that the consumer culture, and retailers especially, cause all of this stress. We blame them for making commercialism, not Christ, the focus of Christmas. We criticize them for putting up Christmas decorations, playing Christmas music, and pushing Christmas sales as soon as Halloween is over. We blame them for the corruption of Christmas through their focus on Santa Claus instead of Jesus Christ; on shopping instead of sharing; on the secularization of Christmas instead of its sacredness.

For many Western Pennsylvania Christians, the corruption of Christmas is epitomized by one term: "Sparkle Season."

Ten years ago, the Downtown Pittsburgh retail community began to celebrate "Sparkle Season" in an attempt to include people of all religions and persuasions. And many local Christians responded by firing off letters to the editor, screaming, "It's Christmas, not Sparkle Season! Jesus is the reason for the season! Put Christ back in Christmas!" When the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership changed the name of the season to "Downtown Pittsburgh Sparkles," these Christians complained even more. Since 2002, the season has been called "Downtown Pittsburgh, a Holiday Tradition With a New Twist." To many Christians this is still a triumph of secular, liberal, political correctness over all that is holy and good.

The irony is that while we Christians stridently proclaim that it is Christmas, not Sparkle Season, we are guilty of disregarding another fact: We are actually in the Advent season, not Christmas.

The Christmas season doesn't even begin until Christmas Day, and then lasts for only 12 days. The consumer culture may be guilty of diluting Christmas, but we Christians are guilty of overextending Christmas and obliterating Advent, as well as the balancing influence it can have on our lives during this very unbalanced time of year. Consumer culture has been able to corrupt Christmas, not because Christians have forgotten Christ, but because we have forgotten Advent.

And Advent is the antidote to the consumerism and stress of Christmas.

So what is Advent? The Advent season starts four Sundays before Christmas and lasts until Christmas Eve. Advent literally means "coming." It is a season for spiritually preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ into our lives. It is a spiritual season similar to Lent, although it is intended to be more joyous and less somber.

Like Lent, it is a season of spiritual discipline and centering intended to spiritually, psychologically and physically prepare us for the joy of Christmas (just as the fasting of Lent prepares us for the joy of Easter).

Advent is meant to be a season in which prayer, reflection, prioritizing and spiritual practices should take precedence. Unfortunately, nowadays we're not all that into spiritual preparation if it means sacrifice and discipline. We would much rather celebrate. We ignore Advent, and it's we in the church who are guilty, not the consumer culture.

The irony of ironies is that we Christians expend so much energy during Advent celebrating Christmas that we're spent by the time the real Christmas season arrives. We are often left with post-holiday blues just as the 12 days of Christmas start.

Advent can be an antidote for the stress of the season. Its guidance to us counters the stress of a consumer culture. The season of Advent encourages Christians and non-Christians alike to spend the season before Christmas preparing by centering and prioritizing, by asking the question, "What really matters?" Christians should take time during Advent to develop an Advent discipline: a discipline of prayer, reflection, self-examination and reinvigoration of our faith.

Non-Christians and nominal Christians can take advantage of the season, too. Many are already caught up in the stress of the Christmas season. They might as well take advantage of the balm of the Advent season and its guidance to slow down and reflect on life and how it can be lived in healthier ways. For both Christians and non-Christians, an emphasis on Advent can bring a corrective to this time of year allowing us to become more centered, grounded, calmer and healthier.

So listen for the call of Advent: Don't be in too much of a rush to get to Christmas. Take time for Advent. Take time to center and to prepare for what is to come.