So here we are…only
three shopping days left until Christmas! Even if the kids are nearly
delirious with visions of sugar plums and adults have most of the
shopping, decorating, and office parties finished, there’s probably a
load of chores yet to be completed. Oftentimes, the things of “this
world” force us to be so busy in the weeks following Thanksgiving that
there’s literally no time to take a step back and inhale a deep breath.
Just getting ready for the holidays is enough of a chore that, come
Christmas day, we find ourselves needing a vacation to recoup our
energies!
Advent, of
course, is the season of the Church year where, for a period of twenty
eight days, people who desire to allow a more spiritual or religious
perspective to shape their lives each Christmas (and every day of the
year, for that matter) literally have to force themselves to take that
all-important and necessary step back and to inhale that very important
deep breath of fresh air so that the fruits of waiting for the coming of
Christ will be revealed in joyful hearts prepared to receive him.
There are three
types of waiting through which we can prepare our hearts to receive
Christ with joy and to radiate the joy of his presence to others. Each
type of waiting presents its unique challenges.
The first type of
waiting involves taking a step back and inhaling a deep breath when we
don’t get what we want “right now.” Kids understand the challenge
presented by this type of waiting, of course, because right now they’re
waiting in eager anticipation for Christmas day to come and to behold
that stash of loot beneath the Christmas tree. But, for those of us who
are a little bit older, to appreciate the challenge this type of waiting
presents in our own lives, all we have to do is to take our place in one
of those long checkout lines during the month of December, perhaps at
Wal-Mart, the Post Office, the grocery store, or a department store at
the King of Prussia Mall.
I don’t know
about you, but I always seem to pick the wrong line. It’s the one line
that always looks like its moving along pretty well but the very moment
I take my place in the line and someone else gets in line behind me,
this line always comes to a screeching, dead halt. There’s nothing to
do; there’s no place to go; I feel like a prisoner; and, I know that the
moment I switch to another line, I’ll only have to wait longer. So, all
I can do is stand there and wait for things to get moving.
But what’s to be
learned when we discover ourselves standing in those lines waiting to
pay for our parcels?
Did you ever
notice how that particular experience of waiting makes it real easy to
grow impatient? And, if not to grow impatient yourself, have you ever
seen how quickly others grow impatient? I’ve watched some people humph
and grumph; I’ve watched others roll their eyes in distain, then make
spiteful comments under their breath; I’ve also spied others who allow
their frustration to morph into anger and, sometimes, even rage.
This type of
waiting can make life feel burdensome and, if we choose to allow that
burden to overwhelm us, we become increasingly irritable and, sometimes,
downright surly. What could have been a moment to take a step back,
inhale a deep breath, and learn and practice what patience requires, we
turn into a burden for others by sharing the fruits of our impatience as
we complain, gripe, and snipe at them. And, if not with people at the
store, we allow these behaviors to spill over onto those around us at
home. Merry Christmas!
This type of
waiting challenges us to learn patience by opening ourselves to the
experience of waiting and learning what it has to teach us. This moment
might come as we stand in a line at a store but it could also be when
we’re merging into traffic at 7:15 a.m. where Route 422 East and Trooper
Road meet or where Germantown Pike and Routes 276 and 476 merge. But,
on this fourth Sunday of Advent, the lesson is simple: only people who
are patient can welcome Christ into their lives. Why? Because Christ
isn’t a cable channel that comes “On Demand.” Instead, Christ comes
into a world disfigured by the power of evil. Only people who are
patient are prepared to receive Christ with joy even in the middle of
all the chaos and tumult characterizing daily life.
A second type of
waiting is the kind of waiting that kids experience as they eagerly
anticipate Santa Claus’ arrival on Christmas Eve. Did you ever notice
how kids will let themselves become so filled with anxious anticipation
about what Santa might bring them that, after being told in no uncertain
terms to go to bed, the kids find it all but impossible to fall asleep?
Now, it’s
absolutely clear that what these kids have done is to allow something
outside of them to so consume their attention and energy that they can’t
do what they need to do. These kids have become “eccentric,” that is,
“de-centered.”
This second type
of waiting teaches us about the tendency all of us have to allow our
hopes and expectations to outpace our needs and responsibilities. We
allow things outside of us to work us up into such a dither that we
neglect doing what we know we need to do. Then, as we grow increasingly
eccentric, we believe that we’re entirely normal and everyone else
somehow is abnormal. Unless someone or something forces us to step back
and to inhale a deep breath, we will make begin to make decisions and
behave in ways that everyone around us knows have little or nothing to
do with reality and very much to do with our little fantasy.
Teenagers who’ve
“fallen in love” and married persons who enter into extramarital affairs
understand what this type of waiting requires and they don’t like it.
These people become so focused upon—if not obsessed with—this “true”
love that they stop thinking about anything else. Their fantasy so
de-centers them to the point that they actually become consumed by it
and forget about who they are, the commitments they have made and their
responsibilities to others, as well as what they need to do right here
and now. Just try to convince someone who has allowed himself to be
ensnared by this trap that he has “lost his marbles”! Some become so
audacious that they actually claim to be “victims” and blame everyone
else “who just doesn’t understand” for the situation they have created.
What self-deception!
When we avoid
learning the lessons that this type of waiting can teach us, we choose
to become increasingly selfish. Slowly but surely, we forget about what
we need to be doing as well as our obligations and responsibilities for
others. And, as we become blind to what we need to do as well as our
obligations and responsibilities for others, we invite an untold amount
of trouble and mayhem into our own lives and we also introduce it into
the lives of others as well. By choosing not to take a step back and to
inhale that deep breath so that we might develop some perspective by
re-centering ourselves in what is truly important, we invite the
primeval force of evil—chaos—to re-enter not only our hearts but our
world as well.
Waiting in
moments like these presents no small challenge. But, to wait and not to
plunge into the swirling waters that will destroy us teaches how
important it is to remain focused upon what is truly important, namely,
what we have committed ourselves to, what we need to be not only for
ourselves but also others, and what we need to do here and now in this
particular situation. When we don’t take that step back and inhale that
deep breath, we allow ourselves to become eccentric and close our hearts
to Christ’s advent. Only those who are truly “centered” are able to
welcome Christ joyfully into their hearts.
There’s a third
type of waiting, one that today’s gospel alludes to in the story of Mary
and Elizabeth. It’s the type of waiting that builds excitement within
us that suddenly explodes into joy when, at long last, people come
together again.
The story isn’t
merely about two pregnant women visiting one another. Although the
Visitation is an important moment in salvation history, this story is
also about the excitement Mary experienced after all of her waiting and
preparing as she neared Elizabeth’s house. And, it’s also about the
excitement Elizabeth experienced after all of her waiting when she
finally saw Mary approaching the house. On this day, two cousins had
very happy news to share with each another. Notice how poor Elizabeth
just couldn’t contain herself as her excitement at her cousin’s arrival
caused her to “cry out in a loud voice.” “Shrieked” or “screamed” might
be more worthy translations!
Oftentimes, and
especially now when our Armed Services personnel return home from a tour
of duty overseas, I see how this type of waiting and preparation builds
hopeful expectation and excitement in us. When I get off of the
airplane and head toward to the baggage area at the airport and, once I
pass by the security check point, I normally will see family members and
friends of fellow passengers huddled together. As they exchange small
talk, each of them periodically will peer into the crowd to see if they
can find the person whose arrival they eagerly anticipate. Sometimes,
the family members and friends will have balloons and bouquets of
flowers or handmade signs welcoming that special person.
It’s not hard at
all to see the anticipation building on their faces as more and more
people deplane and head past the security checkpoint. Then, when the
individual they are waiting for finally appears in the crowd, those who
have gathered shriek, scream, holler, jump about, clap their hands, hug
one another, and cry tears of joy.
I’m sure you’ve
seen this in your own experience. Have you ever felt a little jealousy
when there was no welcoming committee to greet you?
Waiting like this
teaches us about the importance of those cementing those unshakeable
bonds somewhere deep in our hearts that unite us with others. Because
these people care for others more than they care for themselves, they’ve
shared moments of doubt and fear, of joy and happiness, of pain and
sadness, or wonderment and awe. And, now, when all of their
preparations are completed, all of the waiting is over, and that person
finally arrives to warm and generous hearts prepared to welcome him,
their hearts are brimming over with joy.
People who care
only for themselves have no deep connections and shared experiences with
others. And, they also have no one waiting for them when they return.
Instead, they go to the long-term parking lot, pick up their car, pay
their parking bill, and make their way home.
Being patient
because we know that the line in the store will eventually move, by
remaining focused upon our responsibilities toward others, and by
receiving others with hearts wide open and full of joy…these are the
fruits of deep religious and spiritual living we nurture during the four
weeks of Advent as we wait and prepare for the coming of Christ
celebrated on Christmas day.
As we take a step
back, as we pause, and as we inhale a deep breath, we actively prepare
to receive Christ when he comes. Christ may come in the cashier or
person in front of us or behind us in line at the store who we calm down
with a kind greeting or word. Christ may come in a teenager or friend
who we challenge to “re-center” themselves as the choices they’ve made
move farther and farther away from center. Or, Christ may come when joy
so fills our hearts that we embrace an estranged family member who
finally returns like the Prodigal Son. Yes, Christ comes in the hearts
of those who have waited and prepared themselves to bear Christ and to
reveal him in their actions.
When we “wait in
joyful hope for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ,” we don’t just
sit back and wait for Christ to come in some unknown, future moment of
glory. Instead, we actively prepare ourselves to receive him with
hearts teeming with joy. And, when Christ does come and takes his place
in our hearts, the hoped for expectation and the excitement of the
moment will compel us to reach out to those in need just as Christ
himself reached out to them. And, in that moment, we will experience
the joy and the peace of God’s kingdom—the mystery which we call
“Christmas day”—when those who have prepared for the Lord’s coming will
greet one another with hearts brimming over with love and will live
together in peace. |