Wait, Don't Panic

It's December. November gave us a full week after Thanksgiving this year. It was glorious! There has been time to mentally adjust to the roller coaster ride into secular Christmas without the ominous post office warnings of "mail by ... to get your package to ... on time." Ahhhhh, but now it's really December!

Advent will start tomorrow. There is a funeral in my church today. The nave is full of flowers, pink ones and white ones to celebrate the life of a strong Liberian woman. How wonderful that this matriarch loved pink! So, there are more than 4 dozen pink roses in the flower arrangements that the flower guild ladies (that includes me) put together for her funeral. The casket spray is beautiful. It has orchids in it and is just perfect. More flowers will be set around the nave, the narthex (a church word for lobby) and the fellowship hall. They will all be gone tomorrow. Tomorrow we begin waiting.

Amid the cultural hustle and bustle of malls and concerts and Nutcracker performances is the message of Advent. Wait. The One you're looking for is coming. Wait. Be watchful. The One you're looking for is coming in a manner different than you're expecting. Look next to you, look behind you. The One you're expecting to lead you will arrive among you, not in front of you. Wait. Listen. The One who can change everything for you will arrive with the groans of childbirth, the fragile cry of a newborn, the relieved sigh of a watchful spouse. Eventually there will be crowds, a parade, pageantry. For now, wait.