Slow Down, Take a Breath, Keep Awake

One of my very favorite times of the year is the season of Advent: the four weeks prior to the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas Day).  It is so important and life giving to me because our lives have become so hectic.  We are busy with family and friends and jobs and community responsibilities.  The world tells us that we need to shop, shop, shop: it will be good for the economy and it will make is very, very happy.  In fact, it just makes me very, very tired.  

On the other hand, the Church in its wisdom has set aside this time of year as an opportunity to slow down, to breath slowly, to prepare for God’s gifts of peace, joy and love. To be ready to receive the presence of God in Jesus. 

During Advent we prepare for the coming of Jesus in so many ways.  We, the people of God, usually think about the coming of Jesus as a baby to be born in a manger.  Advent is that and so much more.  The first coming we prepare for is the coming of Jesus at the end of time, to bring us all into that final and eternal relationship with God the creator and source of life.  We are reminded by scripture that as we prepare for this second coming that we “do not know when that time will come. . .therefore, keep awake,” so that we might be prepared when He comes suddenly.”(Mark 13:24-37) 

As we move into the second and third weeks of Advent we are invited to prepare for the coming of Jesus as an adult, to prepare for his baptism in the wilderness by John the Baptist, when God proclaims Jesus as his beloved Son sent into the world to establish a path that will bring us back into a right relationship with God and all the human race.  We are not yet ready for the “Baby Jesus,” for the joyful songs and carols.  We first are called to prepare for an Adult Christ sent by God to proclaim Good News to the poor, to heal the sick, to release humans from all the chains: physical, emotional and spiritual that prevent us from receiving the blessings that God has in store for all of us.  This adult Jesus, finally, is the one who reminds us that we will do all he has done and more, because God will send us the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us into all truth.  He also reminds us “to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.” (Mark 13:29-31) 

Finally, as we draw closer to the last Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord, Christmas, we begin to get an inkling of the possibility of the birth of a baby.  We run headlong into St. Luke’s story of God’s Shocking message given to a young, probably teenage Mary by the Angel Gabriel that she was to become the Mother of our Lord.  The Angel informs Mary that ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and you shall conceive a child who^* will be holy and he will be called Son of God. “(Mark 1:35) 

The “Baby Jesus” still has not been born, but we, like his mother Mary, now have a few days to contemplate and meditate about the “marvelous acts of God:” time to reflect on all of God’s gifts of creation, of family, of communities to live in and love in and serve in.  And as we prepare for the coming of the Lord into the world, our hearts are opened to receive God’s blessings and God’s invitation to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every human being” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 305)