For me, it’s both/and. Advent with its themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love has deep meaning for me, and the mystery of what these mean and are played out in my spiritual life is really heightened by the early darkness, punctuated by the lights of both Christmas and Hannukah. And while I do miss Christmases when my nieces, now all past 40, were young, I look at them now and who they have grown into, and it warms my heart.
