This is the first Sunday in Advent. Like the season of Lent, Advent is a penitential season that allows Christians to prepare themselves for the great celebrations of Easter and Christmas. During this time of preparation, Christians are called to reflection, self-examination, and even repentance.

These seasons are traditionally marked by the liturgical color purple. Because this holiday season of ours is so noisy and chaotic, this invitation marked by the color purple is a welcome one, even if you/re not a Christian.

Four Sundays hence, on the 24th of December, this Advent season will give way to Christmas, and the purple will give way to the white of Christmas. Then for a moment, Christians will join in celebration of God/s visitation of this planet, and with this celebration will come the message of peace on earth and good will to all.

Advent is an important counter to the commercial aspects of this holiday season. With the Christmas buying season starting soon after Independence Day, the original message of Christmas is often drowned out by crass commercialism and hype. Of course, our national economy greatly depends on our embrace of this commercial venture 7 whether we/re Christians or not. There has been a recent and unfortunate addition to this commercialism that has crowded out the true meaning of Christmas. As we witnessed last year, Christmas became politicized when a great cry went up bemoaning the use of such offensive terms as &#8220Happy HolidaysC and &#8220Season/s Greetings.C In an unseemly display, Christians complained that the major chain stores were persecuting them by banning the use of &#8220Merry Christmas.C In demanding our rights, we forgot the meaning of the season, and besides, &#8220Happy HolidaysC and &#8220Seasons GreetingsC have been in wide use for as long as I can remember. I/m hoping for better behavior this Christmas, but I won/t hold my breath.

Still, maybe the color purple offers promise of a better way in this polarized age of ours. It has become commonplace to speak of red states and blue states, but while it/s true that our gerrymandered congressional districts and Electoral College maps makes it appear as if we/re neatly divided between red and blue, closer attention to the state of our nation and of our religious communities suggests that we/re really a kind of purplish people. As you may know, when red and blue are combined, they create the color purple. That color is, I think, symbolic, not just of our political state, but also of the rest of life, including our houses of worship.

While I don/t know the exact political makeup of the various religious communities here in Lompoc, my sense is that most are like mine. In each you/ll find Republican, Democrat, Green, Libertarian, Independent, and a lot of &#8220decline to state.C What this means is that there is no purely red or blue state of existence, not politically, and not religiously. Instead, we/re purple people, and I think that/s a good thing.

I believe that purple people are thinkers and questioners. They/re a discerning group, who don/t take the word of the pundit or the politician or even the preacher as gospel truth without checking things out first.

They look at all the options, ask questions, and have the courage to say no to those who would try to manipulate them for political or economic gain. Purple is the color of checks and balances, and believe me, we need checks and balances, because as of yet we/re not a perfect people!

Although I realize not everyone reading this column is a Christian, I/d like to ask my fellow Christians, what does the color purple mean to us as we journey toward Christmas?

As you consider this question, consider this statement of Diana Butler Bass:

&#8220For Christians, purple is more than a blending of political extremes, a mushy middle. Purple is about power that comes through loving service, laying down one/s life for others, and following Jesus/ path.C

If the message of Jesus is about humility and service to others, a positive reception of this message offers hope for peace on earth and good will to all.

Dr. Bob Cornwall is Pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc (www.lompocdisciples.org). He may be contacted at lompocdisciples@impulse.net or by mail at First Christian Church, P.O. Box 1056, Lompoc, CA 93438.

Dec. 3, 2006