Advent was originally a penitential season, not a period of pre-Christmas frenzied shopping. Penitence still predominates in the eastern churches. Mike Marsh, Episcopal priest and rector of St Phillip's in Uvalde, Texas, has a take on repentance that goes beyond breast-beating and wallowing in guilt. It appeared recently on his always-interesting site Interrupting the Silence.

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Repentance...

• is as much or more about our heart as it is about our actions.
  
• is returning our gaze to God.
• is changing the direction of our life in order to face, see, and receive our coming salvation.
• is turning our life around.
• is to choose a new life.
• is not just about changing behavior--it is a change of mind, a change in direction, a change in attitude, a change in our way of being.
• is the recognition that our self-sufficiency is inadequate.
• is a search for life which is realized in personal communication with God.
• is not simply about improvement in behavior or even being perfect, a psychological feeling, or strengthening our will. It is, rather, a change in our mode of existence by which we cease to trust in our own individuality.
• is not individual feats or works of merit but a cry of trust and love from the depths of our abyss.
• is our true Christmas preparation.
• is how we cooperate with God in our own salvation.
• is refusing to continue to settle for less than what God is offering.
• manifests our desire for God.
• is our response to God's desire for us.