Here we go again !
If your honest that feeling, that sentiment, that statement has popped into your head. The month of December has arrived, the signs of the Season are around us, jingles are in the air and department store flyers are in our mailboxes. Here we go again ! It’s a natural feeling. We all fall victim to it. The hectic pace of the weeks to come, and all there is to do, make us say it. But alas, this is why we have Advent!
Advent, is our spiritual “getting ready” for Christmas period. We try to put into four weeks all the hoping, longing, preparing. In Advent, wait for Jesus:
...We wait for His grace and mercy, sure to come;
...We wait for Him to answer our prayers, sure He will, but unsure when, where, or how;
...We wait for reasons to explain suffering, struggle, and worries;
...We wait for Him to call us to be with Him for all eternity.
And, lest we forget, the Lord waits for us!
...Jesus waits for us to open up to His grace and mercy;
...Jesus waits for us to admit that, as a matter of fact, we do need a Savior!
...Jesus waits for us to admit that He is the answer to the questions our lives of searching pose.
...Jesus waits for our ultimate return to Him, for He “has gone to prepare a place for us.”
But waiting is a pain - we like action ! We prefer motion, movement. We get irritable if we have to wait in line, or for an appoinment, or even in traffic. So why do we wait ?
This week I went to the bank. I am sorry to report that the Bank was not giving out any free samples! I became perplexed, however, as I walked into the bank. I couldn’t figure it out. There was a Secuirty Guard there - just sitting - seemingly waiting and watching. Why I wondered - what are they looking for ? Who are they looking for. So, being the shy bashful person that I am - I asked him “What are you waiting for?” As the guard, whose name I discovered was Alex, stood in the freezing cold of last Friday night, he replied "I don’t know Father ! But when I see it - I will know!"
We are waiting.and in the busyness, in the “here we go again” moment, we don’t sometimes know for what. Yet in the waiting is the very arrival.Waiting makes us, alert, attentive, aware. It makes us poised, prepared, present. It makes us focussed and above all it forces us to "savour for a saviour".
Just like someone - “on guard” even during the frigid cold - duty bound, honour committed, we too as His Disciples - are invited to be waiting for that moment - that chance, that conversation, that casual encounter - where He will make Himself known, more clearly understood, more firmly focussed in our life ! The wait might make us say - here we go again. But in the wait is once again - that encounter with the Lord - parallelled by the Magi & Shepherds - that will help us see and be - His light!
I sincerely hope that this Advent, you won’t mind the wait, even if at times you are not sure you know what you are waiting for - See Christ does:
He will use this wait to bless you - if you simply use the wait
He will use this wait to encourage you - if you simply don’t waste the wait
He will use this wait to bring you closer to Him - if you simply don’t worry about the wait
Just be determined this Advent to know that deep down inside, cradled in the soul, where no one but the One who counts can detect, is a moment for which God is waiting to be re-born in your life. We just have to wait to see it - embrace it and maybe even accept it. Advent can do that.
So here is your homework - for the next four weeks:
- when the traffic gets packed
- when the shopping line gets long
- when the picking up of your newspaper required chiracpractor care because of its thinkness
- when the extent of your patience is frilled
- when the desire to scream is real
Don’t say - "here we go again" - or worst - but rather - "Come, Lord Jesus!” - it will make the wait truly worth it !