Advent Anticipation
Advent Anticipation
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14
There are few things more frustrating than having to wait. I’ve been known to leave a store because the line at the counter was too long, only to go into another store and find an even longer line. We’re not used to waiting much in our culture, since so much of life today is designed to help us avoid waiting as much as possible. We have fast food, fast-acting cold medicine, and high-speed internet. Getting stuck at a traffic light can sometimes be enough to ruin a day. Most of us would rather skip the waiting altogether. Waiting is uncomfortable. It means giving up control and depending on someone else’s schedule.
But the season of Advent invites us to wait and teaches us that there may be spiritual lessons in the process. Christmas will come, but it is helpful to take some time to prepare for it. Christ will come, but it’s important for us to take time to keep watch.
In faith, we can wait in confidence for the fulfillment of God’s promises. Even in our deepest longings, we can still rejoice in hope.
I enjoy this reflection on waiting by theologian Frederick Buechner from his book, Whistling in the Dark.
The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised the baton.
In the silence of a midwinter dusk there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen.
You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff in the air of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you’ve never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart.
The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.
Emmanuel, God-with-us, be our strength in times of waiting. Nurture in us joyful anticipation for your saving presence. Amen.