Advent: What Are You Waiting For?

Advent is the word that describes an attitude of anticipation and waiting, recognizing two seemingly competing truths.

Advent is the beginning of a period of time: the four weeks and Sundays before the Christ Mass.  Christians have celebrated Advent for multiply centuries to celebrate that Jesus, a baby born in a manger, brought salvation and heaven down to earth.  The Kingdom is here now.

Advent is also a recognition that, just as we wait to open presents and feast on Christmas Day, we also still wait for the reality of Jesus’ salvation and Kingdom to come fully.

My friend Chloe Hawker wrote a poem, more like a modern prayer, expressing this idea.  Enjoy!

Late December Morning

“Portrait of a late December morning
etched in glass and ice
the air so still that your breath hangs in a frozen fog
suspended until the ringing of the cathedral bells shatter it
and it falls to the ground tinkling like crystals
a December morning so cold
that your nose loses feeling before you even have a chance to cross your threshold
the wind glitters in the trees
collecting crushed leaves like forgotten memories and swirling them around in the
still freeze that wraps itself around the old churches
time stops here
waiting
breath suspended
for the next moment that the world starts to turn again
and breaks itself out of this
December eternity
this December moment
in the late morning
when frost covers the earth in a thin layer of incredulity
and reality forgets itself
as it watches the stars spin about
and the impossible become slowly possible
in the thinning of the veil between worlds that December always brings
you never know what you’ll see this time of year
what you’ll hear
nothing is certain
December whispers that it’s the month of death
but it lies
December is month of waiting
hanging
suspended
outstretched millimeters from touching flesh
mouth open
breathing into what could be a kiss
in one interminable moment
of silence
as the world refuses to turn
refuses to advance to that next moment when
eternity will break into this dimension
shattering all our illusions so instead
the world
waits”