Waiting

December 13, 2019

Waiting. Depending on what we’re expecting, waiting can be exciting, dreary, or dreadful. Around our house, waiting for Christmas is filled with excitement. Linda has often said the anticipation is better than the day itself, and in some ways, I have to agree. We gather for Christmas, partake of a bountiful table, open gifts, and clean up the mess. Suddenly it’s over, and all the anticipation is gone. Finis. Kaput. Christmas as we have come to know it cannot deliver on its promises. The smiles in all the television advertisements are fake, paid for by the vendors. I wonder if the money they make brings any more happiness to the business owners than those empty promises. The new stuff is nice, but doesn’t fill the heart.

Advent is supposed to be a time of preparation; of waiting, to be sure, but also of getting our hearts ready, not for Christmas, but for the new Advent of Jesus Christ. We’ve truncated the Gospel till the season speaks only of what is past instead of looking towards the future. Sadly, the past has no ability to bring anything new. Only what lies ahead has the potential to be creative and life-giving. The past can help by showing us how to prepare, how to look to the future, but it is the future, filled with God, that changes us. So we look ahead, and like Linda decorating, wrapping gifts, singing along to the Christmas music, we get ready for what lies ahead.

When that Day finally arrives, the waiting won’t deflate like Christmas Day does. The Coming will be infinitely greater than the anticipation because unlike Christmas, it has no end, but moves from glory to ever-increasing glory.