Advent, Draw Close

We are approaching the last Sunday in Advent, and I must say, I am glad. It isn’t that I dislike Advent, I do understand the importance for this season in the life of the church, as well as our own lives. As Christians we spend these four weeks preparing for celebrating the birth of Jesus, his first coming at Christmas, by remembering the longing of the Jews for the Messiah, while being reminded of our need for a Savior, and at the same time we look forward to the Savior’s second coming. More simply stated it is our time to remember and reflect upon the past, as we anticipate the future.

So, why am I ready for this season to end? You probably think I am ready for the church to be decorated for Christmas, and to finally hear the Nave full of beautiful Christmas carols and hymns. While this is partly true, this isn’t it, entirely. No, for me, it is the recognition that we are in a time of limbo, caught between the past and the future, and I am suddenly longing to be in the present.

I think there is a season in all of our lives when we must take the time to reflect upon our past. In order to understand how we got to where we are today, we have to realize where we have been. If we didn’t do this, we would never appreciate the blessings we have been given. Likewise, if we didn’t have the hope of the future, how would we ever get through the hard days? Really, we have all had those days in which we had to say to ourselves, “this too shall pass.” Aren’t we really just saying that the future will be better?

This phenomenon isn’t something that we do just in our emotional lives, it is something we do in our work lives as well. Think about this, how often does our planning for the future require us to look at our past choices and decisions? Pretty often in my work. When I decide how to tackle issues in one case, I always look back to similar fact situations in other cases. In all honesty, it is the best way to determine how to resolve cases. Obviously, this is why our entire legal system is based on this doctrine of stare decisis. It gives people some sense of stability about the law, and helps lawyers advise clients on how to prevent problems in the future. The same could be said for many different professions.

All that being said, I think that many of us can get too caught up in the past. Our entire lives revolve around things that happen to us in the past. It gets hard to let it go, and that past event begins to define us. Likewise, some of us live only looking forward to the future. We find ourselves constantly waiting for the next thing to happen, whether that be a new job, a new career, a new significant other, etc.

This, my friends, is why I am glad Advent is ending. I am ready to proclaim the birth of Jesus, to celebrate his light in this world, and rejoice that “this is the day the Lord has made.” I am growing weary of remembering the hard times of the past, just as I am realizing that I have to live my life today, rather than wonder about what my future holds.

And yet, in this weariness I suddenly have some sort of identity with the people, who before the Birth of Christ, were longing and waiting for something, to change everything. They had no idea who or what they were longing and waiting for, what that would be, or how it would look. In reading the words of the prophets, we learn that the people wanted to be free from slavery, to be back home, and they desired reconciliation. They had the promise of hope, but hope for what? They had no idea. Obviously, we now know they were waiting for Jesus. So, why are we waiting? Why aren’t we celebrating, now?

Because, there is more. We must reflect upon what Jesus has yet to do. What will Jesus do if he is allowed into our lives more fully? What radical change is yet to take place in our individual lives? In or community? Without this time of quiet reflection (quiet, unless of course you are listening to the station that has been playing Christmas music since the week before Thanksgiving), we may not take the opportunity to realize what impact the Good News can fully have upon our lives.

So, in this last week or so of Advent, I will not try to jump ahead. I will try and clear my head and my heart so that I can fully see when Jesus arrives, and feel his impact, fully. But, I can’t promise that I will be able to hide the excitement and anticipation of what the impact of this Good News may have upon my future. As someone told me yesterday, the Nativity hearkens!