Almost Advent

Icon at Portsmouth Cathedral, Portsmouth, UK

It's almost Advent.  That strange preparatory season that frequently gets short shrift by a world -- and a Church -- intent on rushing headlong into Christmas.  It was not always thus.  Advent used to be a bit more prominent, a bit less like a warm-up to the "most wonderful time of the year."  Advent used to be more meditative, more focused on Christ's coming, not simply as a baby but on his second coming in glory and majesty. 

Advent is a gift, if we but recognize and accept it. Advent offers us a space for living into the yearning we all feel between the world as it is and the world as it should be, between the deep desire we have for Christ's reign to really take hold here on earth as in heaven and the reality of a world that is rife with all sorts of upheaval:  mass migration of refugees, distrust and rage within our national life, hatred and even violence against "the other."

Advent offers us the opportunity to identify with Israel's longing for Messiah when the iron yoke of Rome chafed and oppressed them for so many years and with their sense of wonder and hope as John the Baptist and Mary and Joseph began to prepare the way for him, as they began to make room in their lives and in their hearts for the one "born a child and yet a King."           
Charles Wesley beautifully captures that Advent hunger for deliverance and deep need for strength, for relief, for the "gracious kingdom" to come, with a lovely hymn usually sung to the tune "Hyfrydol" --

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

What are you hoping for this Advent 2018?  What are your deep desires not only for yourself but for your country, your planet, for all of God's vast and intricate creation?  How might you stop and look and listen for the arrival of the One in whom all things will find rest and completion?  And what can you do to de-clutter the path for him as he comes to "rule in all our hearts alone?" 

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus!

Madonna and Child, Mepkin Abbey, Moncks Corner, SC