PJ’s Page –
As I write this, Thanksgiving is a week away, but the holiday lights at my neighborhood grocery store and shopping complex were shining for the first time tonight. I must confess that I felt a shiver of excitement when I saw them illuminated! In a week and a half it will be here…..
ADVENT!
Of course, nothing in our culture is heralding the arrival of Advent. It’s all already about Christmas. All of this fanfare is more about helping us part with our money than it is with waiting for a Savior. But even the cynical part of me feels a thrill at the first lights of the season.
Last year, during the first two weeks of Advent, Bruce and I realized my life long dream of returning to Germany, where I lived as a very small child and where he went to high school. While I had anticipated many things, I was nonetheless surprised by the wonderful way the Germans kept Advent. Advent in Germany is more than a season for the Church, it is a time kept by the culture. Posters in the town squares invited us to Advent concerts and Advent celebrations and Advent exhibits. Hotels, department stores, train stations, and airport lobbies were adorned with Advent wreaths and on Sundays, the candles were lit with care. If for no other reason, I came to love this home of my ancestors for its keeping of Advent – its willingness to wait and acknowledge the waiting.
This year, it is my hope to create a place where waiting is welcomed, both in our home AND in our church home. I am hopeful that you will find space there to consider what it is for which you wait. Do you await news? Recovery? A relationship? The perfect job? In many ways, waiting is hard. In our culture we can instant message and watch our favorite shows on demand. We don’t have much practice waiting.
In this season, then, when we wait for the Christ child, our waiting turns to longing for Jesus. The commercials, Facebook ads, and emails from Groupon want us to fill our waiting with purchasing. Instead, let’s fill our waiting with reflection, silence, prayer….with candles, song, and sighs too deep for words.
Soon, the manger will hold a child, Mary will ponder what it all means and the magi will journey toward the light of a star. And in time, our waiting will be over. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come.
Faithfully,
PJ+