First Advent – For what do we hope?

November 28, 2010

We are entering the season of Advent–the “new year” of the Christian calendar.  If you’ve never experienced Advent, the word itself means “arrival” or “appearing,” and in the history of the Christian church, it is the season when we remember and celebrate the appearing or the arrival of Jesus into the world (both times – at his birth and in his Second Coming).  Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, anticipation, preparation, longing…concepts almost foreign to many of us today.  While those ideas may not be altogether absent, if you’re like me, you spend a great deal of energy working at NOT getting our hopes up and not waiting for anything we want.  When was the last time you were hungry?  When was the last time you really wanted something for a long, long time?  Yearned for deliverance?  In our opulent lives, we almost have to fabricate moments of longing, and so we fill up on desire for the simplest and silliest of things.  What have you hoped for lately?  Anything worth hoping for?  And what does that reveal about who you are right now?