HE WHO IS IN A HURRY delays the things of God.
— St. Vincent de Paul
I have been away some.
I was away on the road for a bit, and then away because I have not been as well as I would like. Then away for a rest in the sun.
I got a note from a dear friend a few days ago, one he sent to me at the beginning of this Advent that is upon us. It was a note that reminded me that it was time once again to begin our annual wait for the coming of the Messiah. I was away when the note came, but I heard him.
I began to hear something else as well, in the listening, in the time away.
We wait in the dark and the silence of this season
We wait because
it is what those who came before us taught us to do
It is what those who stand beside us do
and we do not want to be left alone or left out
We wait because
we were taught this Story by those who loved us well
Our love for them requires that we wait alongside them again
even those we love yet no longer see
And we wait because of those who are now given to us to love
The love we were given and are now to give
calls us to keep this vigil
We wait because we believe the Promise will be kept again
That is the part of us that most childlike and most real
We wait in the hope that the Love that we seek may yet be found
We wait because sometimes waiting is all one can do
in the midst of the noise and the clamor of our lives
In the silence and the darkness that is bound to come to us all
even if they are unbidden or unnamed or unacknowledged
God is with us as we watch
for the One Who is to come among us
God is with us in the silence
as we listen for the Hosannas to ring out
God is with us in the dark
while we hope for the Light of the world
God is with us always in our waiting
So we wait in the dark and the silence of this season
The wait will be over, soon
I am feeling a bit anxious about the waiting this year, the waiting for the Something new that the One Who made us is about to do among us.
At least I get to do it with all of you — even if we are away from each other.
