“Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’”
In Sunday's gospel passage, Jesus invites us to an alert, wakeful life, always ready to respond to his entry into our lives. I think of people trying to sell their homes, who have to keep them neat for the visit of a prospective buyer at any time. Imagine how clean our kitchens would be if we always had to keep them de-cluttered! Imagine if our minds and hearts maintained such discipline.
Or couples expecting a baby to arrive – they don’t know exactly when that moment will come. They stay ready, bags packed, gas in the car, cell phone charged, ready for new life to break in. That is Advent. That is Advent living, for all the time. And it is not easy.
Waiting for God to show up – cataclysmically, at the end of the ages, or here and now, in the midst of our mess – can also feel like that. Though we might look back on events and say that God’s timing was just right, in the moment it can feel like we’re waiting forever. How can we both live in the moment, and in anticipation of what God is inviting us into?
One way to be more content in both our waiting and our anticipation is simply to be present. Now. Focus on where you are in this moment, not the next, not the one that just passed. Now. Where is the joy now? Even when we know the ending to a book we’re reading, we still want to read our way there. Advent life is living in the “now” as if the “then” has already come. In the Realm of God, it has. In this world, it’s still unfolding.
In this season of getting ready to celebrate Christ’s entry into our world, we might examine how ready we feel for a radical change of status. Dark forces afoot in our world can fill us with anxiety at such a prospect – and Jesus’ imagery of stars falling and a darkened sun doesn’t help. But try to imagine a delightful change, and ask the same question: how ready am I? What would I want to do or have done? How might I want to develop my relationship with God in order to be ready? Just asking those questions can create openings for the Holy Spirit to guide us.
Eternity is a forever of Now. Learning to wait with anticipation while fully content will serve us well in this life and in the life to come. It creates in us a capaciousness and a serenity in which others can seek shelter. It creates space in which the Holy Spirit can dwell and bless others. When we live with intention, choosing to choose the light, we become bearers of it, no matter how dark the sun gets.
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