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The
Joy of Waiting
In our world today waiting and watching are seen as unproductive. Our culture is result-driven because results feed the economy. Hence, Christmas decorations appear in stores long before Thanksgiving, and Christmas carols are played and sung as soon as Thanksgiving is over. Even in our holidays and sacred traditions we are urged to speed along ever and ever faster, and yet our souls cry out for silence and stillness. We are caught in the trap of wanting everything 'now' yet feeling that we never really have the opportunity to experience anything fully. In so many arenas of our lives we are hardly aware of finishing one thing before moving on to the next. And because we are hardly aware, we miss -- "he comes, comes, ever comes." What would it be like if we were to change our attitude for a year and experiment with a tradition of waiting and preparation? It might be that we would find the party at the end much more glorious. We might also find that waiting for God's coming helped make it possible for us to wait more gracefully for other things in our lives -- the order we placed on-line, the traffic that threatens to make us late for an appointment, standing in line at the grocery store behind someone with a full cart, the encounter with a friend that has been delayed. In other words, we might find that practicing waiting in Advent might help us be more patient the rest of the year. But, even more surprising, we might find that the practice of waiting helped us become more aware, more attentive to the presence of God that is always coming into our lives. Yes, practicing waiting might make us more aware, more attentive, more aware, more attentive, more aware, more attentive to the reality that --- "He comes, comes, ever comes." Perhaps Advent
seems outmoded, even ancient and irrelevant for the 21st century. Yet,
what is not outmoded, ancient, or irrelevant is that God comes, comes,
ever comes. When we take the time to wait, we become aware of that presence.
Stress, tension, conflict, inner disparities find a centering point in
that presence, and life becomes fuller and deeper. Below are a few ideas to help you develop your own path of Advent waiting. 1. Take an evening and make an Advent wreath. Gather together some candles, incense, flowers, greens, fabric of purple and some kind of a base for the wreath. Place the base on a table and creatively place the greens and fabric on it. Secure the candles and/or incense and each day take a few moments to quiet yourself, light a candle, and ask for the eyes to see and the ears to hear the coming of God into your life. 2. Listen to some Advent hymns in the quiet of the morning or before you enter the night's slumber. Notice that the tones and rhythm of the music for this season are soothing and centering, inviting you inward to a deep and sacred place within yourself. (Christmas carols with their joyfulness and excitement are more likely to invite you outward.) As you listen to the Advent music, be aware of being aware. 3. Give yourself permission to prepare yourself for God's coming in your life by engaging in a quiet meditation of self-examination at the end of each day. Scan your day and note the times that you were aware of God's grace, aware that you were loved, aware that grace was occurring. Re-imagine those moments and thank God for showering you with these surprise gifts. 4. Refuse
to be driven by the culture. Let yourself be still and quiet, rather than
frenzied and frenetic. Out of your stillness consider how you might bring
God into the lives of others.
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