November 25, 2020 – Thoughts for Advent One

“There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!”

(Romans 5: 4 -5, The Message Bible)

 [The shoulder surgery was very successful and I am ready to continue to explore my spiritual meanderings! Thanks for your prayers!)

                 It is never too early to early to begin creating one’ s Christmas Wish List. As a kid, as soon as the Sears’ and Eaton’s Christmas catalogues were out in early Fall, I would begin to craft my list for Santa. I was very helpful, too - giving him page numbers and catalogue numbers. I didn’t leave it all up to the elves. I don’t recall having any objections if the Big Boy needed a little extra help from outside sources.

                Now as grandparents, Susan is compiling gift suggestions from the parents of our seven young grandchildren, often with input from those two or three who can articulate their own Christmas Wish Lists quite thoroughly. Our adult  kids may groan at the thought of more stuff from over-indulgent grandparents, but hey – that’s the way the Christmas Cookie crumbles. It has been bad enough at how little we have seen of all of them this Fall.

                Now if my family is reading this, here is my 2020 Wish List -  an adult Lego toy, a new jack knife, a bottle of Scotch, a couple of Cohiba cigars, a good humidor to put the cigars in, and a partridge in a pear tree. (Actually, I am not just joking about the partridge as I would really like to try to cook a pheasant or a partridge, but don’t know where to find any.) If there is a way that they can make the Blue Jays win the world Series – that would be nice, too.

                My Hope List is an entirely different matter.

                In a way, it matches my Prayer List. The two are intimately connected.

                My Hope List includes the way forward to end this Covid pandemic and the release of effective vaccines, more time to be with our families especially our grandchildren, good health,  some quality time beside a big body of water (be it an ocean or a Great Lake).

                But my Hope List is not nor should it be just about me and my desires. I hope that that there will be political stability and sanity  returning to our neighbours to the South, or that “Black Lives Matter” or “Indigenous Lives Matter” are more than passing catch phrases, that the year 2020 will eventually emerge into a New Light, bringing a spirit of Peace, Balance, Possiblity and Creativity.

I am not sure we will ever recover “normal” but perhaps that has been the whole point – to become alert to the need to repent of a “normal” that is not healthy, not wholesome, not receptive, not vigorous, not generous and is crippling and unsustainable for a good life.

                When we are hemmed in by a whole of troubles, it is a time not to give up but rather the exact time to dig deeper, to hold on harder and to keep alert for what God is planning to do next. This is what makes “hope” so different than shallow “wishing”. In our Christian context, hoping is the ability to latch on to the strength and vigour of God in the expectation that there is more to come. It may be different than what we wish for but since God is Love Incarnated, so will be God’s future.  

                “Pay attention, my people. Listen to me, nations. Revelation flows from me. My decisions light up the world. My deliverance arrives on the run, my salvation right on time. I’ll bring justice to the peoples. Even faraway islands will look to me and take hope in my saving power. Look up at the skies, ponder the earth under your feet. The skies will fade out like smoke, the earth will wear out like work pants, and the people will die off like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.” (Isaiah 54: 1 – 6, The New Living Translation)

Dale