Advent 1: On longing
9:20 AMWe talk often about Advent being the season of waiting. But I wonder if that is too mild of a description. I came upon these three quotes today (found on the United Church of Christ website):
"Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." (Mahatma Gandhi)
"There is an immense, painful longing for a broader, more flexible, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are and what this life is for." (Saul Bellow)
Advent is deeper...is worse...than waiting. Advent is about getting in touch with the gaps and the black holes and the incompleteness of our selves, our souls, and our world. It is not just a season of hope and expectation, but a season of longing. Deep longing. Seeing the dark and knowing it deeply. Coming face to face with blue shades of brokenness. It's not just that we want Christ to come. We need him.
Lost in the night, do the people yet languish,
Longing for morning the darkness to vanquish.
Plaintively heaving a sigh full of anguish,
"Will not day come soon? Will not day come soon?"
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