Note: Advent, from the Latin, adventus, “coming”, is the Christian season of preparation for Jesus’ birth, the heart of the Christmas celebration, and, according to scripture and the Christian creeds, his second appearance at some future, unknown time and, also according to scripture and Christian tradition, his daily coming through the Holy Spirit. Hence, waiting for Jesus is Advent’s clarion call.
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O Lord Jesus, how much of our time, day by day, moment by moment, do we spend waiting?
Waiting in line.
Waiting at the traffic light.
Waiting by the phone,
• for a job offer.
• for a medical test result.
• for word from loved ones in times of accident, illness, and natural calamity.
Waiting for “the right person” to come along.
Waiting for a good time to try something new or to end something old.
Waiting for the moment of an anticipated event to begin.
Waiting for the moment of a dreaded event to end.
Waiting for the outcome of an election.
Waiting, in times of anxiety and fear, for a miracle.
Waiting for families and friends, associates and colleagues, when they aggravate us, to change!
Waiting…waiting…waiting…
Yes, O Lord Jesus, we wait. A lot.
Yet how much, O Lord Jesus, day by day, moment by moment do we anticipate Your coming
• into this world?
• into our lives?
• into this world through our lives?
Perhaps, O Lord Jesus, honesty compels us to confess, a lot less.
So, O Lord Jesus, hearken unto this our prayer, as the psalmist sang:
“As a deer longs for flowing streams, so our souls long for You.”
And, as the Apostle prayed, so, too, we: “Marana-tha! Come, Lord Jesus!
Amen.
© 2020 PRA
occasional observations of mind and heart, soul and spirit 
Thank you Thank you for this Paul!! Don’t know if I should confess I’ve ready this about 10 times already today!! Let’s just say I REALLY needed this!! And I’ll just keep waiting!!
Love
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Thank you, Loretta. As our days are long and our nights, dark, it is the an act of faith supreme to trust in God and to wait for the light and refreshment of Divine deliverance. In this, I think of Psalm 42.1-6a:
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
I just love and find solace and strength in the final lines. The psalmist, honestly acknowledging life’s difficulties, also self-questions her/his self-pity (Why are you cast down, O my soul…?), and then, in a powerful word of faith, presses on, even amid the distress (Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, [who is] my help and my God).
Let us keep the faith and carry on!
Love
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