A wonderful article by the late sage Henri Nouwen on the discipline of waiting. Thanks to the Onehouse Blog for directing me to this. It makes me think of how so often we jump right into Christmas on December 1 (or November 1st if you work at the mall). Christmas carols, Christmas parties, Santa hats, all come out as we celebrate the "Christmas season" forgetting (or ignoring) that Christmas begins on December 24.
I'm not just being a grinch (or Scrooge, for you Christmas line jumpers). But when we leap too quickly into the "joy of the season" we rob ourselves of the hunger that comes with waiting. We begin re-telling our salvation story at Advent because we being with a yearning for the Saviour. It's not that we pretend Jesus hasn't come, but Advent reminds us that the world still needs Jesus and his promises of new life and new creation. We enter into the world's pain as well as our own more deeply by hearing the promises of the Saviour, not just their fulfilment. But we also need to remember, Jesus has come, and we still await his return where he will make all things new, and "he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more." That is what we hunger for and for which we will continue to hunger as long we see God's vision of a New Creation unfulfilled among us.
May our hunger be insatiable as we wait with hopeful anticipation for the coming Saviour.
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