Advent is about waiting for new beginnings. New beginnings necessitate endings of old things. Nothing is intended to live forever here in this place. This year I am struck by the beauty of endings. Perennial grasses die, for the winter, but go out in a blaze of gold. We have the certain hope of eternity without tears, wars and discord.
The berries on this tree did not turn radiant red until the tree ‘turns in’ for the cold winter months. As striking as these are, they do not compare to the hope we have in the advent of Christ. The little baby who is 100% human and 100% God!
And perhaps my favorite image in this series. My new puppy bounds to the water’s edge. She has her ears up in curious anticipation. We see the path continues on the other side. We see it is long, but now we must wait. We anticipate….
Our lives stretch out in front of us yet we can only progress along the way one day at time. We participate in life cycles, consciously or not, and in the seasons of the year and of our lives.
I think because of the loss of both my parents and one brother I find myself more aware than ever before that I am realistically in the last third of my life… at best.
Like my puppy looking ahead, I look down the path to the end of this year and beyond wondering and waiting. My desire is to go as far down that path of life as God will allow, and to do it in the blaze of Gold and a flame of radiant red. For me, that means absorbing as much beauty as I am able to take in. It means waiting for Jesus, not just in Advent, but looking and listening every day.
I long to be in lock step with Him, able to respond to His call from a heart already full of the experiences of God. This personal history with God in turn builds trust, hope, courage… dare I say patience, for those times when the promise looks so far away. I want to respond to His invitations to abundant life knowing that waiting is good, even beautiful, when I wait for the best.
By our Gregorian calendar we celebrate the arrival of the best promise ever, on December 25th every year. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
How do you prepare your heart to celebrate the best promise ever?
