It's Advent Time! The brief weeks before Christmas that as children, we would spend in giddy anticipation of the BIG DAY of presents. The days were marked down with calendars - chocolate filled or otherwise. Then, as we shifted from the role of being primary present receivers into the role of being the primary present givers, aka adults, this period became a challenging race against time to get all the shopping, decorating, card-writing, and baking done by the BIG DAY. At church, the weeks flew by in a flurry of angel's wings and shepherd's beards as everyone practiced and prepared for the Nativity play. The Advent season slipped so easily into a season of stress and impossible expectations.
But did you know that Advent is actually intended to be a season not unlike Lent? A time set aside for quiet contemplation and self-examination. A time to stop and take stock of where we are on our journey. To assess whether we are on the right path or even moving forward.
Are we even conscious of the journey or the destination? Perhaps we have allowed ourselves to get swept up in the norms and practices swirling around us without giving much thought to why we are doing it all and to what end? While it's true that Christmas is a season of giving and celebrating together with friends and family, let's delve a little deeper to find the eternal point of it all. The "reason for the season", if you will. But to do this, we have to permit ourselves to stop for a spell.
The wise men or three kings of Orient set off, guided by a star. I wonder what they did on cloudy nights when the star was not visible. Do you suppose they just kept moving frantically in some vague direction that felt right? I doubt it. Or maybe they did and wasted time going in the wrong direction, only to double back and re-orient themselves. I'm pretty sure that they learned quickly that it was better to stop and wait out the clouds than blunder along in some aimless direction. Perhaps that's why they were called the wise men...
What about us? Can we still see the star? Have we ever seen the star or did we just find ourselves moving somewhere at some point along with everyone else, never wondering where we were headed or why?
There is a definite point to it all and there is a specific destination but even with our best intentions, we can miss it completely and end up someplace entirely different.
Pick your head up, loved one, and look ahead. What do you see? What lies at the very end of your path? After all the frenzied striving, elaborate planning, and intense effort where will you end up? Is it just a grave you see or are you perceiving beyond it?
Maybe your path is just a circle of the same, repeated day after day, year after year. Pick up your head, loved one, and look for the star. It's there, just waiting to show you the way!
Or is everything around you dark? No stars, no paths, no destinations, nothing. Don't despair, loved one. You are not abandoned or forgotten. You are not invisible. He sees you right now, loved one!
Light the first Advent candle and spend a moment in a simple prayer - "Where am I? And where are You, Jesus?"
