In the Christian tradition, confession has multiple layers, each a variance of truth telling. To confess is to acknowledge a pattern that needs to stop, a departure from the Divine Way and God’s dreams for wholeness and cosmic flourishing. We all need confession.
To confess is also to affirm, to give the green light to what is in rhythm with the holy and the good, what is as it should be. These are often referred to as affirmations of faith. We need these as well to mobilize us to go about God’s life-giving work in the world.
I wonder, though, if Advent is a liturgical yellow light. Advent is an invitation to slow down as a cautionary pause, to confess both the ways we see departures from the Word-Made-Flesh and to affirm the sure signs of God with Us. Stop. Go. Slow. Yes, even the traffic light bears witness to the incarnation.