These days leading up to Christmas…how’s it going for you? For me, from what I’ve experienced personally and from what I’ve heard from many others, the word “tension” comes to mind. Like the tension of a rubber band when it’s being stretched.
Let’s look at one aspect of preparing for Christmas – gift-giving. Gift-giving can cause many of us to become frazzled. Who, what, when, where, resources, hurt feelings, perfect gift, etc. Ultimately, we are gift-giving because we want to show others our love and gratitude, to show tangibly that they are remembered and that we care. The tension here is between the good you want to do and the process that can cause the stress. This is just one aspect of your life during this season. Just one. So, technically, we have a lot of rubber bands being stretched at the same time. No wonder you feel a bit “stretched thin.” Figuratively speaking.
Now let’s step back and pause. The reminder that we receive during this beautiful season of Advent is simply that: to “pause.” Advent is a time of waiting, hoping, receiving; it’s a time of learning patience in the process. When everything continues to whirl in and around us, we have the ability and the grace to “pause.”
If we’re honest with ourselves, the tensions we feel largely come from within us…. self-expectations, expectations of others, our sometimes selfish motives, and our desire to be in control and to have things work out exactly as planned. Sometimes the tension is due to strained relationships that weigh on you, choosing to see all that happens from a negative perspective, trying to be all things to all people, a seeming inability to kick a bad habit, etc. The list is endless. All these things can cause tension within us, and this colors how we live.
Our entire lives are in process, and it is a process. Our society tries to connect from point A to point Z without allowing the rest of the letters of the alphabet to have their time. You need all the letters to make words. We don’t typically allow for process. We want results and now. Just think of what we do to our food. We are unable to let the normal “process” of growth happen when it comes to a lot of what we eat…we modify it, speed up the process, try to perfect it. We then wonder why there are so many issues tied to the food we eat and our own health. This is done in so many areas of our lives – individually and as an entire society.
Advent reminds us to “pause,” to “process,” and to have patience with ourselves and others in this wide-open space of “process.” Advent speaks of peace, patience, waiting, receiving, abiding, being still, being open, allowing for growth, a spirit of silence that is heavy with meaning and depth.
It’s not that these tensions can and should melt away during Advent. Zap. Gone. It’s that His coming reminds us that every moment of our lives, He’s there in it with us. If we believe, if we truly believe this…even though the struggles of life (internally and externally) remain, these moments, the process of life, are made holy by our choosing to share it with the Lord.
Come, Lord Jesus!
