Waiting for Advent…

Advent is imminent. Just around the corner, yet coming at a pace we don’t control. For all that we have to do with it, it might not come at all. And yet, we look forward to what is coming – we anticipate, we plan, we schedule. These are the things we do well when something we look forward to is coming our way.

The thing we don’t always do so well is wait. For many of us, this is a time when our calenders are overflowing with events. We note the hectic nature of “the holiday season”, not even taking the  time to note the oxymoron of the words themselves. It seems to be a time of year when finding moments for a “holy-day” (the root of “holiday”), let alone a “day off”, is quite a challenge.

When we gather at The Table one of the awesome privileges we enjoy is that of a pause – some moments together (and we SO need “together” in this!) when we step out of the whirl of daily life to…what? To enjoy conversation and time with others, to sing, to commune around the self-donation of Christ, to try to stay awake through the philosophical musings of the preacher (or to enjoy a much needed nap)…all good things, to be sure.  But how often to do we think of our time together as a time of waiting?

Advent is, at its centre, about waiting. For all that we may anticipate and plan, in the things that matter most we are those who wait. Waiting can be rich. If we can learn to wait well, we will find that in waiting the kinds of change we long for in our lives and our world are formed. I realize that in our cultural context of constant action, that sounds unlikely. But then again, most of the story we mark in this season is unlikely. So come and join us on Sunday morning. We’ll be waiting…

Peace,

Tim