For the longest time, Advent to me has been about a deadline--get your shtuff together by Christmas and you're good. Stop sinning by the time Jesus is born and you've got your ticket to Heaven. Advent is a time to prepare yourself for Christmas and if you're not "good enough" by then well, better luck next year. Have a nice Lenten season repenting all of the things you didn't get done during Advent.
The fact that Advent is right smack in the middle of finals week does not really help either:
-Write your final paper by November 27th
-Study for the test on December 8th
-Group presentation on December 9th
-Stop sinning and fully understand and appreciate the mystery of the Incarnation by December 25th
Obviously, this is NOT the way it should go. This is just my tendency to think that God only notices when I do something wrong. In a way, our whole lives should be an Advent. We should always be in a state of preparation for Jesus' coming but all of those dang deadlines get in the way and we forget. We forget that we were made for eternity, not for the group presentation that's 30% of our grade. We lose sight of the fact that Jesus wants a relationship with us, not to watch us from above as we pray we pass our finals. Advent itself is somewhat of a paradox--be present and love in the moment (not a typo...LIVE in the moment but also LOVE in the moment), and realize that eternity is real too. I spent the past couple of hours calculating my grades, thinking about how to study for my finals, stressing about not having a job for after graduation yet, being jealous of my thousands of Facebook friends who got engaged this weekend (but really, congratulations to all of you), worrying about everything I have to get done this week, and then realized, "oh yeah, and its Advent, so I should probably do something about that before Christmas--crap, I'm already so behind."
Enter the Holy Spirit in the form of a freight train telling me to CHILL OUT and simply not hold on so tightly to all of these things, and even to let go of some of them to make room for what is important. We all know the story--there was no room for the Holy Family at the inn. Let's not let our hearts be the inn that had no room. Let's get rid of some of the stuff in our hearts that doesn't really need to be there, or at least move some of it out of the way and put at the center what truly belongs there.
Maybe Advent is not about a deadline at all, but about making sure there is always in our hearts a place for Love and giving and most importantly the reality of the Incarnation of a God who is with us always. Advent is not a deadline, but a sweet reminder of how we should always be. And lucky for us, that reminder concludes with the celebration of Christmas.
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| My favorite image of the Holy Family. This picture is not of my statue, but I do have one and I put it at the center of my desk today to be a physical reminder of advent. |
