We live in a time which does not do anticipation well. We want our gratification, and we want it now. We mash everything together into “holiday” season. We do not want to wait the few weeks from the end of October to the end of December.
We create new ways to “celebrate” immediately, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Now Black Friday begins on Wednesday or Thursday; Cyber Monday has become Cyber Week.
My church is countercultural. We celebrate Advent, a month-long season of anticipation.
Advent is not the anticipation of shaking wrapped packages to figure out what is inside. It is not the anticipation of racing through weeks in a headlong rush to the end of the year. Advent is not the anticipation of struggling to go to one more party or follow one more tradition. Advent is not about hurrying, or stressing, or working ourselves into a frenzy to meet expectations.
Advent is about taking time to remember and to look ahead.
Advent is not eager to put this year behind us. We pause to take a breath, to savor what makes this year remarkable. We recall and share our stories, rediscovering truths we may have missed or forgotten. We confess our weaknesses, and look for ways to become stronger.
We take time to remember, to reflect, to restore the spiritual life that gets lost in all the things we try to do. Advent is a time for being, more than doing.
Advent anticipates like the face of a familiar canine friend, as eager to sit and reflect as to take an ambling walk. Advent looks us in the eye to see whether we remember, to appreciate the depth of our anticipation.
What does this Advent find you anticipating?
Where do you anticipate light shining in the darkness?
[Image by WhitA]
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