The season of Advent sets the church into a posture of waiting. The four weeks leading up to the Nativity on Dec. 25th immerses us in the longing of ancient Israel for a Messiah, and the longing of the church for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Longing we understand; waiting - not so much. Yet the waiting we are asked to consider is not like standing anxiously at a bus stop so that we can get to our destination on time, it is more like preparing for something. It is an active waiting which ponders the details of how we want to set up our house for guests. Sweeping the floors, polishing the glasses and cutlery, chopping wood for the fire place, picking the music you’d like to have on as guests arrive, choosing the wine you’d like to serve. It’s paying attention to the little things that will enhance the big thing. In the small acts of preparing - praying, reading the prophets, lighting candles, singing the Advent songs, preparing foods for the feast, helping those on the margins with presence and charity, making or buying gifts, speaking of our hopes for peace; we actively wait. We cultivate our waiting into these manageable practices that sate our longing, that turn us towards the always arriving Jesus in the Spirit, so that we recognize him when he comes in his fullness. Maranatha. GS