Advent – December 17, 2023

December 17, 2023

The Fifteenth Day of Advent

Well, we have reached the third Sunday in Advent, the halfway mark, the pink candle on the wreath.  In many ways this time seems to be moving slowly, still in other ways zipping along, getting away from us.  Lighting the third candle always sends my thoughts back to what it must have felt like to wait for The Coming, which was the promise of the prophets, and The Word of God.  Those waiting did not wait for a week.  They did not wait for months like a mother preparing for birth.  They waited for hundreds of years in hope and faith.  Honestly it can be so difficult for me to wait for something, especially when it is a something or a someone, I am so eager to see, and be with.  It can be difficult for a child to wait for a birthday, or any celebration.  But to wait for so long, trusting The One would come, but not knowing when it would occur is a staggering thought, for me, like wandering in the desert.  So, we have to stop, and think, when we face challenging times.  Is it our time in the desert?  Is it our time of preparation for that which is to come?  I remember, when I was 11 or 12, I rode the city bus from my home to my school downtown.  There was always a bench for waiting so you did not have to stand until the bus arrived.  Sometimes, the buses would be running late, and I would get impatient, sitting and waiting.  A few times, my patience wore thin, and I would start walking, following the sidewalk, heading downtown on my own.  Occasionally it would get hot, or rain would fall, or I would get a nervous feeling about losing my way, until I reached another bus stop and bench, an oasis along my journey.  Then, it would not take long for doubt to set in, and I would worry about getting on the wrong bus, ending up in the wrong place.  It was in those times I fervently wished I had stayed put on the familiar bench, at the regular bus stop.  I wonder how it must have been waiting, and waiting, all those hundreds of years.  How often one must have been tempted to lose faith, give up hope!   Now, we are in the season of Advent, a time of commemorating the waiting for The Coming, remembering those who did not surrender to doubt, but persevered in faith. 

          On this fifteenth day of Advent, 2023, the reading I have chosen is from Isaiah 32:16-17.

The Reading

December 17, 2023

“Justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field. The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.”  Isaiah 32:16-17