The Waiting of Advent

We all do it, we all dislike it and it seems to take forever. Waiting. Knowing that something is about to happen and anticipating its arrival is not for the faint of heart. How many twitches, squirms and page turning occurs in doctor's office when you were on time and the doctor is already fifteen minutes late.

Yet, the wait continues and we fill the gap with either silliness or substance.

As time travels on, waiting becomes a greater chore. We're slowing losing the gift of patience in our need for the now to be now.

Halloween begins in September and Christmas begins in October. We feel that by pre-celebrating an event that it will somehow quicken time. But the thirty days of Advent is, indeed, thirty days. The lesson of Advent is the patient waiting, a reminder that something is about to happen; but not quite yet. Assembling your Christmas tree on November 12 does not hasten the Incarnation. Only waiting does that. And preparation. The preparation becomes the substance of waiting.

We prepare in our own ways but thoughts and desires are focused on the event to come. Preparation can be the renewal of tried and true Christian thoughts. It can be the dismissal of thoughts that were once valuable but serve a purpose no longer. It can also be the broadening of our thoughts toward our faith-cousins, Jews and Muslims. How do they honor their respective waiting period? What are the similarities and differences. We may be surprised by what we discover.

We find out that we are all waiting. Waiting for something.

Lent's waiting is a reparation time, life review and an acknowledgment of dependence upon someone greater than ourselves. The waiting of Advent is pure anticipation. It allows the six year old in all of us to comfortably come out once again and see wonder for what it really is, to see surprise in all its magic, to see life's simplicity once more and to find solace in it.

From coffee to the microwave, instant has replaced waiting. What a gift the Church continues to give us each year, a gift of the wait because something special occurs at the end of the waiting; within us and outside of us.