Ecce veniet!

It’s the first week of Advent, the beginning of a new Church year.  It’s the lead in to one of the biggest holiday shopping sprees of the year.

This year, I thought I would explore Advent a bit more closely.  In the Catholic church, the four Sundays before Christmas are the Sundays of Advent.  Each week, we progress closer to the birth of Jesus and we focus on a different part of the start of Jesus’ story.  The first week begins with a reminder to be ever vigilant against sin, and to wait faithfully for the return of the lord. 

Waiting is not something we enjoy doing.  We acquire more and more items to reduce the time that we need to wait – microwave frozen breakfast sandwiches, anyone?  I’ve seen an ad for a “breakfast sandwich machine” that promises to make perfect sandwiches in just 5 minutes.  (I’ve timed myself, and it takes me 3 minutes to cook the same sandwich using “normal” kitchen implements.)  We are persuaded that by having more, we can do more, and be faster, so no more waiting.

The lesson of Advent is that waiting is an important time.  It allows preparation, careful consideration and a building of expectation towards a great event.  We know that all valuable things in life – a healthy child, a loving marriage relationship, a work of art, a scientific discovery – need a period of quiet incubation.  Because we are human, we often tire of waiting, and want to skip that part.  It’s hard.  It’s long.  It’s slow.  We can fill in that time with other things.  But Advent requires us to stay in the waiting period.  There is something great and wonderful at the other end, but unless we prepare ourselves, we will miss it. 

This week, as you progress through all the things that you must do, can you take a few minutes to reflect on what is truly important to you?  Take time to focus on your family, to express your love to them by your time and attention (not buying all the shiny new things that you hope will make up for your absence.)  Take time to enjoy your meal, instead of wolfing it down and not stopping to care about what you did.  Time to go for a walk, breathe in some fresh air, and notice the things around you.

I promise that once you begin to do that, you will find that there is more time than you thought possible, and that your mind will thank you for stopping the shouting of “urgent” things while you focus on the important things.