Today as we gather together we are celebrating the Second Sunday of Advent. There are several traditional ways that we observe this season. The Advent Wreath  is probably the most familiar and popular ritual. However there is another one which today’s first reading from Isaiah the Prophet calls to mind.

The reading begins by saying “On that day  a shoot shall sprout form the stump of Jesse”. Jesse of course was the father of David from whose house {lineage} the Messiah was expected. Over the years a tradition developed during Advent when people would trace the ancestry of Jesus from Jesse to His birth. The tradition became the Jesse Tree..

In homes, churches, and religious education classes, trees sprung up, made of numerous materials, including a real tree branch. Ornaments were cut out, representing people and events in Jesus’ ancestry. During the days and weeks of Advent, the bare branch would come alive with these colorful representations. By Christmas Day this ancestral journey would be complete. Advent would be fully observed and many interesting facts about Jesus lineage would have been learned.

However we choose to observe  this wonderful season doesn’t really matter as long as we take the time in the midst of Christmas preparations to identify with the longing and expectation of the people of the Old Testament, awaiting the coming of the long-anticipated savior!