waiting and seeking.

Alright, here's the icebreaker of the day.

Regardless of your gender, which role in a live nativity scene do you think you're best cut out for, and why?

I would want to be a shepherd, because I would like having the angels sing for me.

People who wait have received a promise that allows them to wait. They have received something that is at work in them, like a seed that has started to grow. This is very important. We can only really wait if what we are waiting for has already begun for us…. That’s the secret. The secret of waiting is the faith that the seed has been planted, that something has begun. Active waiting means to be present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it. A waiting person is someone who is present to the moment, who believes that this moment is the moment.

How do we wait? We wait together, as did Mary and Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Mary came together and enabled each other to wait. Mary’s visit made Elizabeth aware of what she was waiting for. The child leapt for joy in her. Mary affirmed Elizabeth’s waiting. And then Elizabeth said to Mary, “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary responded, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” (Luke 1:45-46). She burst into joy herself. These two women created space for each other to wait.

–Watch for the Light by Henri Nouwen

The season of Advent is our space to focus on waiting for the Messiah. We have faith in what we are waiting for because Jesus has already fulfilled the promise of a Messiah by coming into the world. Now, as we wait, we must also seek the face of God as we await his return. As we seek him and learn of him, we can wait in hopeful expectation for his second coming.

Establishing a pattern to our seeking is rather like cutting paths through the underbrush on our way through the forest to the river. We can fight our way through the underbrush to arrive infrequently at the river, or we can cut paths which lead us with relative ease to the river for refreshment, cleansing, and recreation.

–Why Not Celebrate by Sara Wenger