Be alert! That is what Advent calls us to – being watchful, waiting, creating a place for the Child that is to come into our hearts.
I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the stark contrast of the days leading up to today and the days that today leads to. We come out of Thanksgiving – a holiday where we tend to over-stuff ourselves with food, food that tends to put us to sleep no less! Then we watch football or something like that.
The next day comes and our culture is immersed in the frenetic activity of too much shopping. It is a day when people are called to work at midnight, perhaps missing part of their Thanksgiving day with family. It is a day when others go out in the dark of night to line up to… shop?! To get more stuff, to get more things. Oh yes, ostensibly, this is to be able to be “good givers.” What does that mean?
Yet here we are, from sundown on Saturday, into this season of quiet, watching and waiting. It is a time of winter cold and barren landscapes – open spaces in which we quietly, patiently listen, watch and wait.
I do know this much – I am not ready for Christmas, but Advent… I am ready for that. Let the days unfold in quietude and in expectant hope. And I pray that I am attentive enough to be there for them; attentive enough to make space for the Lord, who is waiting to be born.
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I so much see Advent as you do, Fran. It is wonderful to find it explained here. I too hope to be attentive throughout this time and not let my attention slip to some other unrelated topic.
Wishing you a Blessed Advent and a constant attention to the One we are waiting for.