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Advent/Waiting

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘advent’ as the arrival of a notable person or thing; in Christian theology the coming or second coming of Christ. The Advent season we celebrate is the historical first coming of the Christ, and we do so in the manner of human social behavior through common worship, gatherings of friends and families, and of course, lots of shopping and gift giving. How about this Advent season, bereft of social custom, including the common re-enactment of the first coming of the Christ child? If you are my age, you may be experiencing this Advent season alone, as your children and grandchildren fear their presence may endanger your health. I wonder….

The hymns ring in my ears of memory. “Oh Come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.” Or, “Come thou Redeemer of the earth And manifest thy virgin birth…” These lyrics trace from the 12th and 4th centuries respectively, the melodies from the 19th and 16th. We revisit that history with joy in our hearts and a yearning to reach out to others in love to mimic God’s loving gift to humankind. Our custom is to step out of our normal selves to be St. Nicolas in nonjudgmental love. Yet this year there is no stepping out. This year we experience Advent stripped of its gloss. I wonder….

What am I anticipating this Christmas? What am I waiting for? I know that the Christ child came upon us. I have read and heard the testimony countless times. I have studied the historical anticipation of Messiah. Without the secular gloss, is Advent primarily a reflection warming the heart as we participate in this annual ritual? Perhaps….

My mind turns to the other advent, the second coming, with which the early Christians, including St. Paul, were preoccupied. Paul thought it was imminent, to arrive like a thief in the night. The waiting was pregnant with anticipation. In Chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans, Paul described the whole of creation groaning as in labor pains, waiting for adoption by God, the redemption of their bodies. Theologian Karl Barth interpreted this passage, writing that we also groan, waiting for our adoption. “The new man, the inheritor of the world of the Father, has been born. But I, the temporal and corporal man of this world, am not the new man. My final possibility is to groan– and to await the promise.” Yes, in faith and hope. For with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day (2 Pet. 3:8).

In the meantime, here we are in a strange and for many, a lonely, fearful Advent season of want. I am thinking that Advent is not a season of waiting. Christ came that we may have life, and have it abundantly (Jn. 10:10). Maybe Advent is more an annual ritual reminding us of our daily duty to reach out to others in love. Perhaps then, this is primarily a time for doing, without the traditional gloss of the season.