Dustin Cole, head of St. Cyprian's Altar Guild displays St. Cyprian's new Advent Wreath made from a neighbor's bicycle wheel.

Dear Friends, Neighbors and Members of St. Cyprian's, 

Advent, the season of waiting, expectation and anticipation will soon be upon us. Ever since I was a young acolyte at St. Paul's on-the-Hill in Winchester, Virginia, I have struggled with exactly what this season is supposed to be about --- some say it is about preparation for our celebration of Jesus' birth on December 25th, others for some sort of coming again. Some think of the season as a mini-Lent, a fast before a feast. Among the many conflicting emotions I have about Advent --- one is frustration. Frustration born of impatience, like waiting in line to use the bathroom at a ballgame --- can we just please hurry this up and get it over with! As a kid, stretching high on tip toe attempting to reach the dangling Advent Wreath in our church's sanctuary I remember wax dripping down the sides of my acolyte robe to the frustration of the Altar Guild. I was frustrated, they were frustrated. My friend Philip once actually spun the Advent Wreath wheel of fortune style figuring this might be a faster way to light the candles or set the church on fire.

There always seemed to be this tension in the air, my highly observant Dad wanting to wait until the last possible day to put up the Christmas Tree, everyone else in the family wanting to deck the halls but in dramatically different styles. Arguments about whether we'd have a real tree, live or cut, or a fake one --- grandstanding about which is greener, more affordable, and prettier. One fun year was when my Mom said, hell let's just go grab that branch out there that blew off the tree and string some lights on it. Looked very chic, was ecological and didn't cost a thing.

This attention to waiting, and preparation which the season of Advent invites us to observe can be a gift --- that opens us to creative possibilities and deeper awareness rather than commercial holiday frenzy and glittery cliches. This is why I appreciate so much our Presiding Bishop's, The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori's, recent reflection on Advent. She invites us to think about how we'll be waiting...

Advent 2012

As you prepare for the season of Advent, I would commend two questions to your musings and your prayer and your meditation: What is it that you are most waiting for?  And, how are you going to wait this year?  

 

I'm struck this particular season by the waiting of several women in Christian history.  Mary obviously, waiting for the birth of the Promised One in her part of the world, a child born for the whole world.  

 

Also Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptizer, who comes before Jesus. Elizabeth has been promised a child in her old age, these are both very unexpected births, they are waiting.

 

And I'm struck particularly this year by Elizabeth of Hungary, a saint of the Church who lived in the thirteenth century, who was betrothed as a child herself, married at 14, a mother of three by the time her husband died when she was 20.  She spent her life giving it away, giving it away both physically through her means and through her presence and her healing.  She was an icon of generosity. 

What is it you wait for this year?  Is it an opportunity to meet the surprising around you? Is it an opportunity to reflect on what is most needed in your heart and in the world around you?  How are you going to wait for that gift?  Are you going to wait actively?  Engaged?  Honing your desire? Stoking the passion within you for that dream?  Are you going to wait for a dream that will bless the whole world?  

 

That's what Christians wait for in the season of Advent - of the coming of the Prince of Peace, the one who will reign with justice over this world.  I believe that's what the world most needs, this year and every year.  

 

May your season of waiting be fruitful and blessed.  May it be filled with surprise and a willingness to engage that surprise. 

A blessed Advent.

 

I am grateful to wait with you in the month ahead, together engaging the surprises that may come our way.

 

See you soon at Turk & Lyon!