Chaplain’s Corner: Advent – Actively Waiting
I love the hymn ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel.’ It is a haunting tune that reminds us to stay and sit a while in the tension of advent before the celebration of the arrival of the Christ child.
Advent (Latin for ‘coming’) is commemorated the four weeks before Christmas. It is a good reminder that God’s people spent years and years longing and waiting for a Messiah as they lived under oppressive empires, sometimes exiled from their homeland. The first words of the hymn cry out:
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
It is no surprise that we want to skip to the good parts (before the Thanksgiving turkey is off the table it seems!) but what might we learn by joining Israel in that time of anticipation and longing?
Advent is essentially a time of waiting, but it is not passive waiting, it is active waiting. Waiting that builds a holy longing. It is a waiting that is also a time of preparation for the coming Good News.
Just like the Israelites ate the bitter herbs of Passover with their shoes on their feet and their staff in their hand (Exodus 12:11), we too should use this month of December to prepare our hearts and minds, not just for the coming of Christ, but also for the challenge of the life and calling that Jesus would call us to partake in.
– Caley Ortman, Sierra View Homes Chaplain
