It is
Advent now. We hope to quiet down during this time, and ponder our need for a
savior. Look around the world and you will see plenty of reason to need one.
Looking can be immensely disturbing.
But
let me tell a story that might show a different side of “waiting.” Holy
Family started a tradition common in many churches today to have coffee social
after Mass. On the first and third Sunday of each month, people gather in the
back of church to meet and munch.
Every
social features some special goodies that our pastry cooks bring to church.
Sometimes it’s a juicy cheese cake, or crème puffs, others times, a
pastry apple filling, there’s always something with maple and a variety of
tasty cookies.
What
does this celebration have to do with Advent? Well, the funny thing is that no
one in line at the coffee social is in a hurry. They talk, they share stories
about their family, they relish being in “the” place. People can cut into line for
coffee or another pastry and no one cares. The crowd seems to have turned
waiting into a social affair, a time of patient anticipation, together.
The
point? Our waiting during Advent does not have to be an agony. Jesus will be
born, and in fact we know this for sure, since we have experienced him at Mass.
In Advent we join each other not around pastry treats but around the peace and
goodness that his birth will bring to our hearts and to our rapport with others.
God turns our waiting into a social, prayerful event.
Granted,
it is not always easy. Traffic jams, grocery store lines, shopping on Amazon,
the usual chaos of the season can be exhausting. Sometimes our minds are
spinning with the many things we have left to do. Christmas is coming, after
all. Impatience rears its head. But what is the alternative?
Here's an idea. If we use our senses we will not need to buy another gift to make the season joyful. In the present moment, as you read these words,
hundreds of real and God-filled objects are all about you. Did you take a walk on the first day after our first snowfall? Despite my frozen fingers, I took the above photo and enjoyed this moment of beauty. How about letting in
the colors and lights of your Christmas tree? There are times when we can stay in the present during
Advent, instead of in the future or the past. Maybe we will find subtle and
quiet beauty all about us. The present tense is still happening.
Advent
is a time to focus a bit and realize that emptiness is a healthy and normal
part of our lives. We will only be filled if we let emptiness have a home in us
first. Strange to say, the waiting for fulfillment is also itself a
fulfillment. It lets us be what we are—not God but human.
God waits for us as we reflect: "Happy is the one who listen to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting besides my doors." (Proverbs 8:34).
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they stay
awake and find your presence in their daily lives waiting to bring them peace and
comfort.
