Why do you let us wander, O God? (Is 63:17)

As we begin this season of Advent, of waiting and preparing, it seems comforting to think of God as the potter, and we, the clay. If we could just relax, and maybe just sit quietly, and stay still long enough, we could be shaped into exactly what God intended. Ready as a sturdy pinch pot to live the awareness of incarnation! But like Isaiah, I wish that knowing God in our midst just took a little silent reflection time. Hearing this lament - "Why do you let us wander, O God?" - I must smile because I know my hunger for God, yet how willful I am to do it MY way....