The Right Way to Light the Advent Candles

If one more person asks me about the right way to light the Advent candles, I will relinquish my cradle Christianity and become a pagan. Or Buddhist. Or Jew. I might have to give up my 43 years of ordination also but that might involve my pension. So let me not overdo myself.

The candle controversy is, as Pooh would say, a bother. Some argue that the hope candle comes before the faith candle; others argue the vice versa. Some argue that you have to hope to have faith; others argue you have to have faith to hope. Fewer care by the time you get to the third and fourth candles. And everybody quivers about the Christ candle. Should it be pink or purple or white?

The Christ and the candle are both allergic to the word should. Jesus is a may kind of guy, not a should or must kind of guy. He feels the same way about blame and shame. He has banned obligation from the universe and replaced it with grace. You may light the faith candle first in order to increase your hope. You may light the hope candle first in order to revive your dwindling hope. You may just light them and not name them. But, you may also realize that the joy candle (third or fourth?) can’t show up without the peace candle (third or fourth?) and that neither will show up without faithful hope. If you add an appropriate disinterest in right and wrong kinds of questions in favor of possibility kinds of questions, you…