What Jesus says in the Gospel as we begin Advent is quite unnerving. He speaks about signs in the sun, the moon and the stars and nations being in disarray. He also says that we will be perplexed by the roaring of the seas and that some people will die of fright when they see what is happening in the world! He is talking about something that we do not know much about – the end times. But notice what else Jesus says: “And then
they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud of power and great glory”.
At the beginning of Advent, a season of waiting for the celebration of the nativity of the Lord, we are being directed to reflect on the quality of our own waiting. That, it seems to me, is what Jesus is prompting us to do.
We wait for things every day. If you are up early enough, you might wait for sunrise. We wait for someone to get back to us. We wait for a delivery. We wait for the end of the workday to receive our wages or return home for rest. We wait for a word from a loved one. There are many things we wait for. You might be waiting for something as you read this reflection. Sometimes waiting can frustrate us. Sometimes waiting feels like a waste
of time because we think we are being passive or unproductive.
Jesus suggests that we can become so lost in the busyness of life that what is important can slip by unnoticed – and when it does, then it is too late. He says it quite starkly: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.”
Christian waiting is not passive waiting, one in which time passes us by, we get frustrated, and things go unnoticed. On the contrary, the kind of waiting we are invited to is an active and expectant waiting, one that is aware and does notice what is happening within us and around us. It is conscious and intentional waiting. It is waiting that looks at our lives and the world through the eyes of God who is always creating and
renewing.
As we begin this time of Advent, we can become so busy doing all that needs doing at the end of the year that the season can pass by with us hardly noticing. We get to Christmas feeling out of breath and tired. We have hardly noticed the great promises contained in the texts for Advent and made little preparation to welcome the Christ child anew into our hearts and lives.
Begin a practice today that will help you deepen the quality of your waiting – put a few minutes aside each day to pray, reflect, and read the daily Scripture texts. Perhaps you have a ritual you would like to perform each day to remind you of the season we are in. Light your Advent wreath for a few minutes of quiet reflection.
How will this Advent be different for you?
How will you wait actively and expectantly?
