Sunday: Getting Ready
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord...”
During the first years of our marriage, my parents came to see us once or twice a year. Because the visits were infrequent, they were special events. Anticipation of their arrival created occasions to make small repairs, do some painting, and clear away the clutter. Twenty years later my mother moved to an apartment across the street from us. She became a frequent visitor, and we were less careful about our arrangements.
When a famous visitor comes to our cities, it is not uncommon for potholes to be filled, streets to be swept, and red carpet to be laid. We want to make a good impression.
Advent is our opportunity to prepare our lives once again for the coming of Christ. It becomes a time to reflect on our failures, to repent, to change the direction of our lives. Much of the season before Christmas Day is spent only thinking about ourselves. "I want . . . I must. . . " Advent should be a time to think about what God wants.
These four weeks are also a period for housecleaning, not our dwellings, but our lives. We have filled them with a clutter of material things and pointless activities. Advent offers a chance to sit down with our checkbooks and appointment calendars to uncover our true priorities. "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
For Reflection: What clutter should I remove during Advent?
A Prayer Seed:
For the herald's voice is calling in the desert far and near,
Bidding us to make repentance since the kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God a way.
Johannes Olearius, 1671
