The Wilderness Way #4

In the wilderness of our time, we appropriately wander in an Advent way. Expectation and anticipation are to be a part of our mood. In this time of both good cheer and anxiety, in this time of both joy and pain, we need something different and something deeper to see us through the wilderness way of a 21st Century Advent.

We need something different and deeper in the choices we make. A friend passed on a little story about a couple that invited some people to dinner. At the table, the mother turned to her six-year-old daughter and asked her to say the blessing. “I wouldn’t know what to say,” she replied.

“Just say what you hear Mommy say,” the mother said.

The little girl bowed her head and prayed, “Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?”1

We must make choices that move us beyond simply one more gathering, one more event, one more party.

However anesthetizing it may be to simply drift along with the good cheer of the season, we know in our heart of hearts that this is not enough. Even the most jaded partygoers perceive that something is missing. We all, all of us, need something different and deeper, more significant in our choices. “Unless we dwell upon this mystery, letting it take center stage, we will chase the true spirit of Christmas to no avail.”2 If we are to recover the true spirit of Christmas we must make choices that bring us back to the divine mystery. Only such spiritual depth will salve the wound in our souls and the ache in our hearts.

You see, our choices are a reflection, dimly, grant you, but still a reflection of the greater choice that brackets this whole story. “God had a choice.”3 Dan Shaeffer writes eloquently, “That choice carried serious and deadly consequences. It began with Him abandoning His divine glory and humiliating Himself, making Himself as vulnerable as Deity could make Himself, becoming a human child. He came to suffer and died. There is no tragedy, humiliation, loss or pain that He has not known. We can festively decorate the message of His entrance into our world with mangers, angels, stars, wisemen and shepherds. But we cannot festively decorate the purpose of His entrance.”4

Look again at little Mary carrying the Christ child. She sings in hope because she sees a better world in His birth. “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made.”5 Just so our carols, lights and expressions of joy at their best can bring us to something different, something deeper, wrap us like bands of cloth in the hope of His coming.

Or, to change metaphors somewhat, consider a brief story Dr. Jim Moore shared in one of his Advent study books a few years back. Jim writes: “A few years ago, a small Alaskan town called Hope was destroyed by a flood. No lives were lost, but there was tremendous property damage. One of the bishops of the church went there to see how he might help. When he arrived, he found the devastated town completely deserted. However, someone had placed a small sign in the center of what had once been the main street of the little town. The sign read, ‘The Community of Hope Has Moved to Higher Ground.’”6

I think I need to move to higher ground, or maybe it is to sink deeper into the mystery of God’s love and grace. Whatever image you employ, how goes your Advent wilderness wanderings? May you know the Joy of His birth.

1. By Richard Ledered, from Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul, passed on to me from Dr. Richard Evans

2. Dan Schaeffer, In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas, p. 145

3. Dan Schaeffer, In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas, p. 146

4. Dan Schaeffer, In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas, p. 146

5. Luke 1:54-55a

6. James W. Moore, Let Us Go Over to Bethlehem, An Advent Study for Adults, pp. 18-19

By: Bishop Mike Lowry On 12/12/2008

Topics: Bishop Columns