I love it when there is a full final week of Advent. If we go straight to Christmas Eve from the celebration of the fourth Sunday of Advent I feel cheated, like I am missing something. This year, driven by supply chains concerns, I bought all the gifts I am giving fairly early, so it isn’t that I need more time to prepare. To prepare for the rituals of Christmas. But I always need time to prepare my heart. In fact, I need all the time I can get.
I am struck this year by how different it was last year. We had shut down in person worship after being together only a month. No one was vaccinated. I was despairing, trying to figure out how to do something, anything, to celebrate Christmas safely. Numbers of sick and dead were rising. It was truly a grim time.
This year everything has changed except the number of sick and dying. We will be in person for the Christmas services. Many people are vaccinated and boostered. There is a sense of relief that celebration is possible. We are holding on to all of the festivity and joy that we can.
It is almost surreal for me. I still am desperately trying to keep people safe in a world where not everyone agrees on what that means. My biggest concern about personally getting sick is the inconvenience of quarantine. If I didn’t pay attention I wouldn’t know the desperation of health care workers and the dread of teachers. Everything seems fine on the surface, when it frankly is anything but fine.
So I need these final days of Advent to hone a few spiritual disciplines that need work. I need to practice patience, especially with people making choices I don’t understand. I need to practice humility, because it is so easy to think I am right, and to forget the suffering of others. I need to be better at joy, a feeling that comes from God’s promises being fulfilled not my own wishes.
God is about to take on human form and walk with us. And I realize the world is not ready, that I am not really ready. Let’s get to work, and pray for each other.