"Advent attitude"

A spiritual friend and some readings helped me to further appreciate the deeper meaning of this season of Advent and as it leads to Christmas. I was reminded that many things in life are in process. There are many things where we cannot know exactly how it will end, what the specifics are and so on. In this regard, one of the concerns I tend to carry is over my children and where their life choices will lead them. They have gradually (or not so gradually) begun to lead their own lives making their own decisions in many things. And maybe it is only when I sit back to notice, do I realize that they are certainly not 'replicas' of me (thank goodness, I suppose!!) But they would have to become the persons they have been created to be........by whatever route they choose, be it the more direct one or by some more circuitous path.

An Advent attitude is one where we try to understand (not only in a rational way, but also in an intuitive sense) and love the present with all its loose ends and uncertainties, in the midst of waiting for the 'fullness' of time. Many things in life, events and persons and we ourselves are not there yet....we are in the process of getting there, by God's grace and our cooperation (and sometimes resistance).

Can we trust the gift of time as coming from the wisdom of God?

"Lord of time, teach us how to trust the waiting. Help us to hope for fullness, for we grow anxious when concern is heavy and only time will yield the answer. Calm our fears as we loosen our grasp on time. Give us faith in your wisdom... and courage for this holy waiting."