Advent

A television interviewer was walking streets of Tokyo at Christmas time. Much as in any city, Christmas shopping is a big commercial success in Japan. The interviewer stopped one young woman on the sidewalk, and asked, “What is the meaning of Christmas?”

Laughing, she responded, “I don’t know. Is that the day that Jesus died?”

There was some truth in her answer.

God in a manger
Defenceless, enfleshed
Immanuel crying
And fighting for breath

God in a manger
Wriggling and raw
Laid out on the wood
Enthroned on the straw

God at Golgotha
Pierced in His flesh
Immanuel crying
And fighting for breath

God at Golgotha
Forsaken and lost
Stretched out on the wood
Enthroned on the cross

Advent is about seeing beyond the Crib and seeing the shadow of the cross. During Advent the summons to the wood of the Cradle and the wood of the Cross are so apparent. — At this time and place of Advent, both are empty, the Cradle and the Cross. The Baby Jesus is yet to be born and the Man Jesus is yet to be crucified.

In this sense it is a time of emptiness — not so much fraught with anticipation as with a deeply subdued hope of things to be. It is a time of darkness that verges on impending Light, a time of indistinct shadows in a twilight pervading the universe and the deepest recesses of the soul. In our hope we perceive our poverty and our misery — and we seek our deliverance. We are wanting.

Whether we turn to the Son, or away from Him, the shadow remains and nothing we do can diminish its length or alter its direction. Advent is a time for us to reflect on our end in light of His beginning, on our own death in light of His birth. We number our days ... but to disordered ends. We behold dissolution, and we despair ... instead of grasping the reality of the Resurrection, and rejoicing.

Accompany us, God,

through the waiting.

Accompany those displaced

waiting to return to the land.

Accompany those in refugee camps

waiting to go home.

Accompany those in conflict zones

waiting for normality.

Accompany those in violent homes

waiting for silence.

Accompany those imprisoned

waiting for justice.

Accompany us God

through the waiting

until your kingdom comes.

Amen.