Patiently Waiting

I apologize if I offended anyone with such inflammatory language.

Patiently. Waiting.

Ok, that I time I did it to purposely double down on the volatile language, so I’m not sorry. How about a couple questions on the backside of Thanksgiving.

Are you of the persuasion of taking your dinner plate and swathing all your food together, creating a soupy casserole, or do you prefer to keep the delicacies on your plate spaced, in order to savor the unique flavors of each item?

Ok, a follow up question. Would you slop together the main course AND dessert? You know, just smush the veggies and turkey right into the apple pie? Gag. With the exception of a few sociopaths, that very thought makes most of us drive heave. Let’s walk away from that gross thought and on to a new question so as to move us to the point.

Today begins a fresh, new season. Any guesses on what it is?

Advent.

Did you speed ahead to Christmas? Did you smash dinner and dessert together?

Dorothy Day once compared the season of Advent to a woman expecting a child. “She lives in such a garment of silence, as though she were listening to hear the stir of life within her.”

Stunning.

This is intentionally slowing down … and pausing. This is about choosing stillness in order to carefully listen to that which is deepest within.

It’s really easy to leap ahead to Christmas. In fact, it seems to be the trendy thing to do this year. Yes, 2020 has been completely bonkers, but catapulting to Christmas only highlights our inability to “live in such a garment of silence.” And it would be tragic to toss off that much needed garment and miss out on the sacred practice of listening to the life within.

Many find the Christmas season as rushing around while draped in a flurry of activity. The hurried life that is steered by check lists and buying and consuming until we crash on the couch completely cooked… both body and soul.

Maybe this year is actually pleading with us to let off the gas, rather than trying to speed forward. Maybe this year is inviting us to slow down. To choose simplicity. To choose the education of contemplation. To eat one bite at a time. To choose to extend the meal rather than rush to the end of it.

Friends, may you choose to slip on the garment of silence and the calm of contemplation. And may you create space for the joy in this season of anticipation.