It’s hard to believe, but December is here. And here we are, in the midst of Advent. Advent is part of the Christian tradition, and it’s meant to be a time of hopeful, patient, expectant waiting for the coming of Jesus. Advent is a time to “let every heart prepare him room” (to quote from Joy to the World). Advent is sometimes understood as a time to think about being a better Christian – a time to think about becoming a “whole new person”, as they say. I believe Advent can be a time for us to think about being better Unitarian Universalists. It can be a time to think about changing ourselves for the better. But what does waiting have to do with becoming a “whole new person”? In To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration, Gertrude Mueller Nelson writes, “Waiting is unpractical time, good for nothing but mysteriously necessary to all that is becoming.” That is, to become, or to grow or change, requires waiting. To become like a new person – or to make changes in our lives – requires time and patience. It’s hard to be patient, especially in this day and age. We have instant-everything. I could do all of my holiday shopping in a couple of hours on the Internet if I wished. This is actually becoming fairly common. I could also order my family’s Christmas tree on the Internet. (Did you know that? It’s not common to do this yet, but somehow one gets the feeling that it will be common not so far in the future.) Computers and other machines and technologies have made many things that we do faster and faster. But some things simply can’t happen in an instant. Nature usually works slowly. A seed doesn’t grow into a plant in an instant. It takes nurturing – like water and sunshine – and it takes time. And growing from a fabulous child or an adolescent into a fabulous adult? That takes time too. The good news is, waiting and patience and taking our time can be the best part of Advent. Beyond taking our time, we can take back our time. In fact, we might even be wise to waste some time. As the Rev. David H. Cole writes: “It is the time you have wasted crafting a scarf, stuffing a toy, writing a note to a close friend, reading, meditating, or thinking that makes Christmas come alive …. Walk; do not run, to the nearest Christmas! Wait and learn patience. Kick at pebbles, watch stars, and notice all the quiet, unimportant yet essential things that happen around you. These can be your ritual of waiting for Christmas. Christmas can be a renewal of hope, a miracle of joy, but only if we waste some time making it a spiritually beautiful event.” I am plumb excited to waste some time with you this Advent season. May we waste our time wisely, becoming a whole new people.
In faith, Lara

Posted by Rev. M. Lara Hoke on December 2nd, 2009