Advent Offers A Time For Reflection

Waiting and watching is difficult at anytime of the year let alone during the hectic time of the Advent season. But yet, it is my favorite time. I look to the past, the present and the future. Advent allows time to reflect upon the events of the past year both in the world and in our lives. And we cannot help but reflect on God’s past, present and future plan for our lives, the church and the world. Advent gives permission - if you will to reflect – to watch – to wait in a world that does not allow much to stand still. Reaction tends to be our first instinct and we have learned to get things when we want them – meaning yesterday.

But Advent also calls us to the hope for the coming of Christ. This hope comes from waiting and watching expectantly. It comes from knowing that we already belong to Christ through the waters of our baptism. Without this knowledge we would certainly dread the coming of Christ. The gift of Christ is that in him we have been saved through his death, and in communion with him, we will be without reproach at the day of his coming. We can anticipate and prepare for the coming of Christ into our lives, knowing that no matter who we are or what we have done, we have already been accepted by him and we are already in relationship with him. Yes, Advent reminds us to take time to watch and to make space for that waiting, to live expectantly for the coming of the Christ.

And so, in this Advent season, I am reminded to unbury the Advent wreath - to make time for the watching and waiting. Each morning before the bus arrives my children and I light the candles on our advent wreath. We read the scriptures together and pray about the coming of the Christ child. And in that brief moment of quite after the final amen, it seems as though the flicker of the candles draw us in to the mystery of the coming of our Lord. We wait and watch. But all too quickly the moment passes as some interruption intrudes and we plunge back into the fast pace of our world.