Grace and Peace,

Christmas is now less than one month away and already the signs of the season are all about us. Stores have been in full swing for the Christmas season at least since Halloween. Now Christmas lights are going up on homes and in neighborhoods, seasonal displays are everywhere, Christmas music is playing on radio stations and, in a few days, our church will be decorated with greens and Christmas symbols. `Tis the season….

With all of the focus on Christmas, we do not want to forget that first comes Advent. Holiday hustle and bustle blurs the distinction, but the four weeks leading up to Christmas, the Advent season, are intended to be weeks of quiet and prayer, a spiritual standing-on-tip-toes, anxiously anticipating the intrusion of God into our world. It is a season of mystery, holy silence, waiting, wondering, watching, and expecting. It is a reflective time as we ponder and meditate on what it means for our Lord to come in the flesh.

It occurs to me that we may especially need this Advent season this year. Our lives are unusually unsettled just now. Certainly the economic woes of our country and, indeed, the world, have put everyone on edge. More than our economic security has been threatened. The collapse of major banks and insurance companies and investment institutions and the need for massive government intervention has shaken our trust in the very foundations of our economy. The high cost of energy earlier in the year delivered the truth that we can no longer depend on an unlimited and inexpensive supply of oil and natural gas on which our businesses, homes, and transportation depend. We have just come through an election and will now have a new President and some new Representatives and Senators. Change may be good but change is always uncertain so we have yet another unknown. The list continues, but you see the point. This is an anxious time.

What better time, then, to stop and to pray? All of the circumstances mentioned above and more are causing us to think about our priorities, our values, and our faith. What do we believe? What is important in life? On what ground will we stand in the year to come? Most importantly, where is God in all of this? We are anticipating the coming of our Lord. How will the Christ be revealed to us in this day and time? These are Advent questions. They are not answered easily. Answering requires some time and quiet and prayer and spiritual listening. We need an Advent season.

Christmas will be here in short order. We will rejoice accordingly. Advent, though, is here now. Somehow, in the midst of all of the activity of the season, find some quiet time in a quiet place and ponder. Look with your heart and soul for the coming of God.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.