Advent, Chocolate, and the Meaning of Time

It’s the holiday season. Shopping. Fellowship with family and friends. Food. Mmmmm….food. Because it’s December 1, it’s also the beginning of Advent. Liturgically, Advent begins on Sunday, December 3, but most Advent calendars start on the first day of December.

I always have an Advent calendar thanks to my mother-in-law. She sends me one every year for my birthday. This year, however, I have two. My “scenes from Venice” calendar, courtesy of my mother-in-law, and a second one that has chocolate treats for each day of the 24 leading up to Christmas. I bought this little treat-laden calendar to support the fundraising efforts of my church’s preschool.

Now that I’m contemplating consumption of little bits of chocolate as a daily ritual, undoubtedly leading to larger treats as the month goes on, I’ve begun to get concerned about gaining weight. Therefore, I consulted the back of said calendar to determine just how many calories each treat contains. Here is the nutrition label for your review (click on image for large print version). Please note that the serving size is the entire calendar.

There has got to be a metaphor here somewhere….