30 November 2008

Greetings Friends!

Many, if not most of us are not comfortable with waiting. We live in a society that promotes instant gratification: “fast” food, drive-through banking and prescription service, even self-serve checkout kiosks at grocery stores, and more. Get it hot and get it now is a prevailing theme! Waiting in long lines has become not only irritating but unacceptable. Funny, but some of our potential “wait-eliminating” conveniences don’t always provide us with more time. And more time – time to prepare – is what many of us may desire amid this busy holiday season to come.

As we enter and celebrate this first Sunday of Advent, we are encouraged to focus our minds and hearts on preparation. Liturgically this IS a season of preparation, but in our daily lives we are well aware these four weeks are filled, perhaps to the brim, with a great dose of busyness. After all, there is shopping and gift wrapping, house cleaning and decorating, tree trimming, baking and cooking, parties and Christmas concerts. Our list of “to do’s” could potentially be nearly endless. So much to do; so little time. It’s no wonder we hear some say they can’t wait till Christmas is over. And yet amid our busyness, we are invited to pause and prepare ourselves for the Coming of the Light anew in more that outward ways.

In recent weeks some of our Scripture readings have spoken to us about darkness. The advantage of Advent is that it offers us a time of hope – reminds us there is light amid the darkness. Perhaps a key to beginning our preparation is to take some time – to “watch” and “wait” – in the check-out lines, as we have our morning coffee or tea, as we prepare our meals, as we ready ourselves for bed (to name a few). And in our watching and waiting we have the opportunity to ponder where inside are we experiencing darkness; what are the struggles in our lives; for what and for whom does my spirit long? By reflecting on these things we can discover our need for light and encounter with God. And when we are able to identify and discover our need for light in our lives – the light that our loving God provides – we can be able to echo the Advent refrain “Come Lord Jesus” with a renewed sense of hopeful longing, meaning, and anticipation.

As we watch and wait, may we always be sustained by the light of our knowing the deep and constant Love of God in our lives.

Peace on the Journey