Advent Thoughts-2009

"If nature must take time to renew herself,
how much more do we humans need such time."

 Welcome to the season of Advent and Christmas! Ecclesiastes says: “There is an appointed time for everything...a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.”

Advent is a time of waiting, of longing for what is the best in life to dawn. I know there is the push of consumerism and the rush of business that wants to bypass such a time for being silent. But if nature must take time to renew herself, how much more do we humans need such time. Jesus spent most of his life on this earth, being still in a small town, Nazareth. They say if you have a full day coming up, you need to take even more time in quiet prayer before you begin such a day. Mary, the mother of God, did the same thing as her son; she waited for the promise given her to be fulfilled.

And if there is any time for love, it is NOW! I have watched many a movie; waiting to see how it comes out (even those I know how they will end). What happens, love always wins in the end. Why even the classic, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, sees a cold heart of Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge, become a heart that can’t even contain the joy of loving a family with a boy named, Tiny Tim. At the end of the Bible are these words: “Behold I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to their deeds!”  

And a time for peace…well isn’t this what we all long for, no matter what side we find ourselves on? If we want to be miserable and make others lives miserable (or try to), then that will be our lot. But if we desire peace and prosperity for all, then this will be granted to us in full measure. For the measure of a person’s life is the peaceful relationships they have formed over the years allotted to them. Who brings you peace today? Who would you like to spend eternity with? In John 14 we read: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

Silence, Love and Peace all working together to fashion a people of God! What better gift can we await and then receive at Christmas than hearts full of gratitude and hope, in love with a God that can only love in return. Yes, two roads diverged into a woods and I took the one less traveled. Two hearts finally discovered each other and they have never known such JOY! Yes, there will be more hurdles ahead and crosses to bear, more demands made on our time; but in the end, we will hear the angels singing: “Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to people of good will.” As Tiny Tim says: “God bless everyone!”