Home By Another Way Advent 3 2025
…O’er the hills we go, laughing all the way!
I didn’t grow up in a pink-candle church. Our Advent wreath had all purple candles with a white Christ candle in the center. Same goes for the first church I served after seminary. No pink. Just purple.
It wasn’t until I started hanging out with the United Methodists in town that I first saw an advent wreath with three purple candles and one pink.
“Who invited Barbie to Advent?” I wondered.
Eventually, I learned that the pink candle used by many for the third Sunday of Advent has a long and interesting history that pre-dates Barbie by about 1,000 years.
Back when the Church observed Advent more like they observed Lent—as a season of penitence, fasting, gloom and doom—leaders decided the people in the pews deserved a little break after making it 75% of the way through. So, the third Sunday of Advent “lightened up” the dark purple to pink to signify joy, a reprieve from all that repenting, a nod to the growing excitement and anticipation of the birth of Jesus. They called it “Gaudate” Sunday, from the Latin for rejoice.
Each week of Advent this year, we’ve been inviting you to “go home to Christmas by another way” through intentionally making time for spiritual practices. Practice #1: Be still, in silence, for 15 minutes every day. Practice #2: Get enough sleep (7-9 hours) every night and, when possible, also take an early afternoon nap for 20-30 minutes.
This third week of Advent, it’s time to add Spiritual Practice #3: Laugh every day. Laughter as spiritual practice is a means for healing, for connecting with others and with God, for cultivating joy and humility. Laughter releases stress, boosts the immune system, and helps you process emotions and trauma. It pulls you into the present moment, offering a temporary reprieve from anxious thoughts about the past or future. Laughter is a universal language that bridges divides and builds strong bonds between people, promoting compassion, empathy, and unity. Shared laughter can break down barriers and create a sense of shared vulnerability and connection.
When I want a good laugh, I often turn to movies or stand-up comedy specials. If you’re looking for a place to start, here are some of my favorites:
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Michael Caine and Steve Martin
- Bridget Jones’s Diary (the original), with Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant
- The Full Monty, starring actors you’ve never heard of
- Douglas, a special by stand-up comedian Hannah Gadsby
This year’s Advent lessons come from the gospel of Matthew, the only version of the Christmas story that includes the Magi, aka the three kings of orient about whom we sing, “bearing gifts, they traverse afar, following yonder star.” The fourth verse of that Christmas carol should probably never be sung on Gaudate Sunday, when the pink candle of joy is burning bright—”Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom, sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb.” Yikes! No, on pink candle Sunday we should probably sing the alternative lyrics to the carol that any self-respecting 4th grader knows by heart: “We three kings of orient are, tried to smoke a rubber cigar. It was loaded and exploded, blowing us up so far!”
It wasn’t until I re-read the story of the Magi this year that I realized it’s not all doom and gloom. Matthew understands the importance of a little “gaudate” when it comes to the birth of Jesus. He writes, “When the star the Magi were following stopped over the place where the child was, their joy was heaped on joy in great abundance!”
So this Advent, as you make your way home by another way, just as those rubber cigar smoking Magi did, be sure that laughter is part of your spiritual practice.
Thank you for journeying with us through Advent this year, as together we went home by another way, rediscovering spiritual practices that can serve us well not just in this holy season, but throughout our lifetime of working for justice and peace, resisting tyranny, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
As theologian Erna Kim Hackett puts it, “We are invited to take another road home. A road shaped by our spiritual practices and grounded in community. A road that keeps us curious even in the face of duplicitous leaders. A road that is attentive to dreams and tender enough to kneel before a child.”
We at the Maine Council of Churches wish you holidays that are blessed with hope, peace, joy and love, even in the midst of these dark and troubled times.
In faith,
Rev. Jane Field, Executive Director
