Advent – a time of waiting. We often think it is us who do all the waiting, but perhaps it is God who is waiting for us to come to our proper sense of soul and it is God waiting for our prodigal return. I wonder? James K. A. Smith who edits the journal Image writes “The problem isn’t God’s absence; it’s our lack of awareness of God’s presence. ” This is both comforting and challenging in the midst of the chaos and evil of war. Smith also writes the following – “We look for God in the extraordinary and God arrives incarnate in the mundane, even abject, hidden right before our eyes. We’re waiting and waiting and miss the fact that “God has taken place” perhaps because we keep scanning the horizons for meteoric arrivals. Or maybe because we’re too distracted. What if the arrival happened and we’re only still waiting because we couldn’t recognize it? Maybe what we’re waiting for is not the arrival but the healing of our attention so we might see where God has already taken place.” A lot to ponder today and I trust the short poem by Kenneth Steven with open the door through which you courageously walk.
Nativity
When the miracle happened it was not
with bright light or fire—
but a farm door with the thick smell of sheep
and a wind tugging at the shutters.
There was no sign the world had changed for ever
or that God had taken place;
just a child crying softly in a corner,
and the door open, for those who came to find. by Kenneth Steven
Prayer:
Loving God,
in the midst of this season of
waiting,
help me not so much to look out, up, or down,
instead help me
to look within.
In the silence of stillness, help me to be
aware.
In this moment of awareness might
I walk through the open door of myself
and in
my walking,
my journeying,
my pilgrimming,
may I discover that you, O Lord,
have been waiting, ever so
patiently,
for my arrival. Amen.
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 
Perhaps we don’t want to acknowledge the poem’s simple truth. Perhaps in our impatience we need embellishments; bright stars, shepherds, animals, wise men, gifts, a drummer boy. And we can’t wait. So the world experiences what is perceived as Christmas before Thanksgiving. In my neighborhood I feel certain that there is a battle of belief going on. One yard contains Santa, a full herd of reindeer, snowmen, elves, packages, giant candy canes and gingerbread men, all lighted, all night long. Across the street is a life sized, fully lighted Nativity scene covering 3 backyards.
Although I love the season, I often wonder what we have become as we wait and watch, not only at Christmas time, but all of the time. And if indeed God is waiting, my sense is that it’s going to be a long one.
I remember the child’s book, Where is God. And although the message is that God is everywhere and within everything, it reminds the reader that one’s heart is where one finds God. I think it’s a wise and encouraging message.
LikeLike