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Novmeber 26, 2017 "Watch and Wait"

            

The Advent season comes to us with two invitations—watch and wait.  I confess, however, that I am innately good at neither! 

 

“Watch this!  Watch this!” say my grandchildren as they point to their tablets, but often I get distracted and miss the pivotal moment that had mesmerized them!  I have deep conversations with myself before any occasion that likely will produce waiting—trips to the grocery store at holiday times, visits to various doctor appointments.  I tell myself that I can use the time to relax from other efforts like working at my computer desk and that as a result I will be better for the wait.  At other times I convince myself of the wisdom of taking a project along with me.  I can crochet or smock or hem a dress so that I actually accomplish something while I sit in the waiting room at the doctor’s office.  Yet, truth-be-told, I still often wind up frustrated and ready to move ahead—on to the next thing to claim my attention for the day!

 

When I approach the Christmas story the thing that nags at me is asking, “What about me?” with regard to the story.  What if I had been a shepherd invited to come to the manger to see this thing that the Lord has made come to pass?  What if I had been a Wise Man living in a far country invited to follow a star, to risk life and limb in order to come and worship Him?  Would I have let go of other things that might have claimed my time and attention?  Would I have made a place in the grand scheme of my life so that I could come and behold his glory, or would I have been too busy, too preoccupied with other concerns to make the journey?

 

My prayer?  “Lord, help me during this Advent season to watch and wait.  Help me to watch as shepherds and Wise Men watched for him long, long ago.  Help me to wait in such a way that his peace and calm flows over me.  Help me, even as news in the world is dark and discouraging, to feel the sense of hope that only a Christ Child can impart.”

 

 

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