by Kelly Phelan

This has been a whirlwind of an Advent. On the first Sunday of Advent I packed up my Toyota and drove 1200 miles from Seattle to Los Angeles with my best friend. Despite having less than four Sundays to prepare it was the easiest move I ever had. Once I landed in LA I had a hard time getting into the “Advent Spirit” in a place where I have not put on an actual coat since I left Seattle.

When one of my coworkers asked me if I wanted to drive around and look at lights last weekend, I quickly said yes! While driving around the greater Los Angeles area, we listened to 103.5 with “Helping You Feel Good” as the line under the station ID on the car’s screen.

Helping you feel good …
Christmas music stuffed between commercials about last-minute deals you need before the SEASON IS OVER!
Commercials trying to market and sell scarcity like the marketization and scarcity of good in the world.
If I listen to enough Christmas music, if I buy the right gifts, I can forget 2016 happened.
I can ignore my own faults.
I can ignore what I have done and left undone.

When we feel like we are not ready for Christmas — when we feel like we don’t have enough — let us not forget that our Savior was born without any gifts waiting for him. That our Savior was born to overturn the tables of the market. And that Good News came in uncertain and unexpected circumstances.

Kelly Phelan is the Children’s Minister at All Saints Church in Pasadena