I am very thankful to be back at work after a time of unemployment. It was the first time I had ever been without work for so long. Fall 2022 included more than six long weeks of limbo for me and my family as we experienced painful shortfalls in our home budget. Naturally, fears surfaced of the damage that possible extended, indefinite unemployment could bring to our family finances. But thankfully, I started a new job this month.
Yes, the month of December has been one of new beginnings… as we have seen the return of adequate income for our overall well-being. But the waiting we had to do before the arrival of my new job was purging and difficult, and it was in some ways analogous to Advent.
The word advent is a Latin word that means “coming”, and Advent (for Christians) is traditionally a time of preparation and reflection during which we anticipate the coming of Christmas. I am not talking here about the kind of preparation you might think – the hustle and bustle of buying, wrapping, and baking and planning.
No. Advent preparation means primarily a time to slow down and experience longing and waiting. It is a time to observe the existentially empty conditions, the desperate spiritual situation of our lives – our current ills, griefs and hardships – while also hoping and longing for better days ahead… for the arrival of our salvation. During Advent we empty out the old addictions and the props for which we have clambered in faithless anxiety, and we give full attention to that which has thoroughly, deeply met human needs and desires for ages: namely God. Particularly, we attend to God and His promised coming in Jesus Christ.
So Christians experience Advent as a time of waiting and repentance. At least two seasonal songs remind us each year:
Rejoice, rejoice!/Emanuel shall come to thee, O Israel
traditional; O come o come, Emanuel
and…
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come/let earth receive her king/let every heart prepare him room/and heaven and nature sing…”
Isaac Watts (ca. 1719), Joy to the World
In order for our hearts to adequately prepare for Christmas… the coming of Christ, or Emanuel (God with us)… we must have a very focused and specific attitude toward time and a certain humility about our lives. We must be prepared to see that our lives need saving. Like Mary in the Bible, Advent makes us aware, as part of God’s expansive creation, of the movements and depths of the great Story to which we belong.
That story is one of a creation, the fall, and the promise of a New Creation in Christ. So the way to clearly see the not-so-hidden meaning of Christmas is to sit quietly before the Lord in prayer during this season we call Advent and reflect deeply and inwardly by faith, much like an expectant mother.
A time of waiting and prayer: what better way to experience a new year, a new job, or a new life, than by spending the season beforehand reflecting and making room for God in our hearts? It’s a matter of trusting the One who has made us the promise of salvation.
So… do you hear what I hear? I hear a song, a song, ringing through the sky… with a voice as big as the sea.
It is God’s promise that we hear once again this Advent… the glorious song of the coming New Creation!