It's almost time - it's almost Advent. This is the beginning of the church year when we wait - wait for salvation in the birth of a baby, wait for the days to get longer and warmer, wait for the earth to again bring forth life.
How good are you at waiting? I know that patience is not one of my strongest attributes and waiting is not something I do all that well. Waiting means being ready to put my desires on the back burner and working in someone else's time - God's time. Christians have been waiting for God for centuries and again this Advent season we will wait and watch, hope and love.
Think of Advent this way - it's the important steps you take before you begin a race. If December 25th is the day you have decided to start again, then there's not much time for that prep work needed! While you wait you have to decide just what it is you are changing, what that means in your life, what it means in the life of those around you, what steps need to be taken before the change to make it a success, and you need to be sure the decision is the right one.
Where to start? Prayer, of course! Prayer makes the waiting easier because you have God to confide in, to listen to, and to help guide you as you continue on your life's journey. A time of discernment in prayer when you take time to listen for an answer as well as the question can provide one with not only the right path but also the opportunity to live more fully. Our culture tells us we can have what we want immediately - no waiting! But if you never have to wait you never get to experience...
The wonder. There is very little wonder in our world when we just move from one thing to the next at a frantic pace, not waiting to see if we want to be where we are or whether it benefits us or our world. Waiting allows us to open ourselves to all kinds of possibilites for our lives, for the lives of loved ones and even for our broken world.
So waiting each Advent for Jesus' birth gives us time to stop and pause in the midst of our crazy commercial world and view the wonder. The wonder of a person's face as a gift is received, the wonder of the natural world as it lays still beneath a blanket of white, the wonder of how much you can hear on a cold, crisp night, and the wonder of a child born more than 2000 years ago who is still making waves in the world.
Advent soon begins - let us take the time to wait and to wonder and have a different kind of Christmas - a Christ centered celebration of love, joy, hope, and above all peace.
