Listen and Wait

How did you spend this Black Friday?  Were you among the masses who ventured out to the malls or some local department store?  Clayton and I went out to grab a bite of lunch and decided to stop and pick up a couple things he needed at one of these local stores.  We quickly found what we were looking for, then headed to the check out line.  I'm sorry, to call it a line would be to mislead you.  It was more like a human chain whose links were irrevocably melded together.  As we surveyed the line and the scowls of the shoppers whose paranoia communicated a fear that we were going to somehow get ahead of them, we quickly estimated that it would be somewhere between an hour and a week from next Tuesday before we would reach the register.  We put the items back and headed for the safety and relative sanity of home. 

 

Most of us will wade into the rapid and shifting currents of holiday shopping over the next several weeks.  Yes, some will be smart enough to order their treasures online, but not all of us will handle our shopping assignments as smartly as our cyber friends. 

 

How will you spend the season of Advent? Will you rush and hurry, finding yourself captured by the very things you told yourself last year you wouldn't repeat this year?  Somewhere, in the midst of all this harried season, there is a place to listen and wait.  Will you listen for the sound of angels proclaiming the good news?  Will you listen for the sound of a child's question, a familiar carol's message, a word of kindness and encouragement from someone unexpected?  Will you wait for the Spirit of God to guide your steps, to offer a more purposeful path toward Bethlehem and Christmas?  Listen...and wait...

 

Sunday morning, the season of Advent begins.  The gratitude of Thanksgiving gives way to the anticipation of Advent.  I hope you will join the journey as we worship together.

 

Listen, and wait.  It will be time well spent.

 

Jim Abernathy