by Rick Cheek
When it comes to waiting, we get very impatient.
Advent can be hard for those of us who don’t like to wait. We want it and we want it now. We don’t always do a very good job at preparing, especially for the way of the Lord.
I love being outside. I love winter most of the time — although I don’t like it getting too cold — especially how everything is laid bare by winter’s cold.
It’s almost desert-like when you think about it. I enjoy taking in the beauty of nature and looking at the lay of the land when the leaves and grass are removed.
My wife and I have two dogs, a pocket beagle named Maizie and a German shepherd named Kinga.
Enjoying the Second Sunday of Advent with the weather being in the mid-50s, we went for a walk. I’ve trained them to stay close to me off leash and they’re pretty good most of the time.
During this particular walk, I was thinking about the readings and this whole idea of waiting and preparing for the coming of our Savior.
Kinga will walk 20 to 30 yards ahead of me, but she will turn and wait for me to catch up.
There is a correlation between what Kinga is doing waiting for me and what God does for us. When we stray — and we do — or when we go off course, God is always there waiting for us to come back or catch up.
What are we doing to catch up? The almost desert-like conditions of the landscape give us an opportunity to eliminate the distractions and hear what God is calling us to do.
Advent could be summed up in what the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 40: “Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
We have this great season of Advent to help prepare us for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Take time to visit the sacrament of reconciliation. Strip away the overgrowth of sin in your life and let God reveal the beauty that lies beneath.
