WEDNESDAY OF ADVENT 1

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years,
and a thousand years are like one day.

2 Peter 3:8

When God speaks of time, it has a different definition.

The circular shape of the Advent Wreath symbolizes the timelessness of God. It has neither a beginning nor an end. 

Peter’s letter reminds us that God is not bound by human measurement. With God there is no concept of seconds, minutes, hours, days, or years. Those are purely human constructs.

The early Christians lived with the expectations that Jesus’ return was imminent. When that didn’t happen, their hopes dimmed. Thus, Peter’s letters were written as encouragement to the Christian communities lest they fall prey to scoffers.

Impatience is nothing new, with secular as well as religious communities alike. Every so often a fear monger or profiteer comes along who claims to have done extensive research, who claims to have cracked the Bible code, or has received a message from God that Jesus is coming. None of which is true.

The astonishing fact is that some people believe them.

For example, in 1732, Conrad Beissel came to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and founded a community that watched for the coming of Christ each night from midnight until two a.m. The last living member of that community died in 2008, at the age of 98, still waiting.

A dozen or so years ago a televangelist named Harold Camping convinced a group of followers that the world was going to end. Many who believed him sold all they had and isolated themselves from the rest of society because they were duped by this charlatan. After two missed dates, Camping went into retirement, which is perhaps where he should have been all along.

These are but two cautionary tales of what can happen when people become obsessed with trying not just to anticipate, but to know what lies ahead. That is not humanly possible.

The priest and poet John O’Donohue wrote a poem titled, “For the Time of Necessary Decision,” that offers some sage advice for this time we are in. [i]

The mind of time is hard to read.
We can never predict what it will bring,
Nor even from all that is already gone
Can we say what form it finally takes;
For time gathers its moments secretly.
Often we only know it’s time to change
When a force has built inside the heart
That leaves us uneasy as we are.

Perhaps the work we do has lost its soul
Or the love where we once belonged
Calls nothing alive in us anymore.

We drift through this gray, increasing nowhere
Until we stand before a threshold we know
We have to cross to come alive once more.

May we have the courage to take the step
Into the unknown that beckons us;
Trust that a richer life awaits us there,
That we will lose nothing
But what has already died;
Feel the deeper knowing in us sure
Of all that is about to be born beyond
The pale frames where we stayed confined,
Not realizing how such vacant endurance
Was bleaching our soul’s desire.

As we light the candles on the Advent wreath this season, may we be anxious for nothing. May our concerns be only for the needs of others more than our own. May we find joy in waiting.

And as we light one additional candle each week, may our hearts be filled with the light of Christ.

Let us pray:
God grant us the patience to delight in this time of waiting. That when we celebrate your coming again, we may be able to welcome you with a joyful heart. Amen.

[i] O’Donohue, John. To Bless the Space Between Us (New York: Convergent Books, 2008) p. 143

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