Another "Yes"

Luke 1 : 26 - 38

"May it be to me as you have said"

The Christmas 'rush' is on.......every shopping mall is thronged with people.....whether or not they are Christmas shopping, they are still enjoying this time of year. The kids are on holiday and the end of year is a time many people are on leave. I decided quite early on that I would try hard not to get caught up in this rush. I thought I would not try to buy too many presents, but instead spend time writing special cards to people to appreciate their friendship.This took me a long time, searching for just the right words to express what I wanted. It is much more than the standard "Blessed Christmas" wish. I do wish every person, by God's grace, could enter into the Christmas story and journey with the people present at that first Christmas. God broke through into their lives: Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, the shepherds.....in such a way that their lives would never be the same again. I hope that as a Christian I would be able to testify to the same, to give witness to the experience of being 'overshadowed' by the Holy Spirit, that as a result I would be able to bring Christ into the world. But to do so would mean a "Yes", one that could very well turn my world upside down. The people in the Christmas story were open, people who although puzzled and even fearful, came to quiet peace when they said "Yes", giving assent to God to enter their lives.

People who come for spiritual guidance do so when they are seeking, when they are beginning to open themselves to God, who often breaks unexpectedly into their lives. They are no longer satisfied with the way they have been relating to God. They hear the invitation to deepen the relationship. They hear the longing in their hearts and respond to God by saying "yes". It is not a comfortable "yes". Things will change in their lives. Their priorities will change, they will see themselves and their situations in God's light. They will experience God's advent in their lives. In this time of waiting, in between the first and the final advents, I would ask for the grace to attend to God's coming into my life, amidst the very ordinary, and sometimes tiresome days.