Paying Attention

Second week of Advent, and the the words keep popping up: Wake up! Watch! Keep Alert!

To which of them am I supposed to attend?  There are so many sounds, sights, aroma, textures in the air, on the ground, all around. The glut of  son et lumiere overwhelms me and makes me soporific. Which sign informs or directs me toward to the coming of Christ?

I want to listen to words that bring peace and hope. That means I need to tune out some of the other noise that is so pervasive–Musak in the grocery stores, excessive nattering by politicos, the squabbling ‘she said, he saids’ of friends and families.

I want to observe signs that offer new life and hope: a task well done, an obstacle surmounted, a new idea taking birth and shape. That means I may have disregard some other signs, those that reinforce the status quo, those that give no hope, those that encumber me like a dead weight.

I want to inhale the fresh scents of sweetness and spice that accompany the beauty and love that is at the heart of the season. “Lo, how a rose ere blooming…” I have witnessed some extraordinary acts of imaginative kindness this Advent, borne on tenderness. I have breathed the fresh air of truthful and concerned conversation. Breathe!

I want to touch the soft fabric of the newly weavings that mend the tears and rips of old cloth. The work of mending and repair and restoration paves the way for the new to come. It smooths the rough places, it makes the obscure plain.

My main work these days, besides trying to be a sign of hope, is keep awake to all the signs of the Christ that is being born, in me, in those I love, in the Church, in the world. When I see them, I want to celebrate them: an arduous task completed for  God’s sake, loving arms extended for Christ’s sake, embodied presence shared with those who mourn by the energy of the Spirit. All of these give me hope, bring hope to the worlds they inhabit, because even when the Advent semi-dark still surrounds me, I can see the Light of Christ in the community who is on this journey with me to Christmas.  I pray that I can and will stay awake!

Creator of the stars of night, Your people’s everlasting light, O Christ, Redeemer of us all, we pray You, hear us when we call.

Latin Hymn, 9th Century