Re-Orient: Advent 1 reflection

I'm in the midst of moving from the house I've lived in for 34 years to a condo. Both are in Des Moines and I'll still be at St. Columba's, but it's disorienting to contemplate. Each time I do simple things like turn on the stove or the shower, I wonder how this will be the same and yet different in the condo. I'm sure it's a good (and even a necessary) move, but I now have only two weeks to sort through so much stuff and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. Sometimes it's just too much.

Isn't this what we all do each Advent - we get disoriented, then reoriented. As our new liturgical year begins, we live partly in the past and partly in the future. We relive past Christmases and anticipate future ones. We re-examine all our traditions and decide what it's time to let of go of and what we should keep. We drive ourselves crazy trying to do everything at once. Then we experience the pure bliss of that special carol or evocative aroma. We become children again, waiting for Santa.

In the end, all we really need to do is stay awake so that we can experience the coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Whether we're prepared or not, he'll come, and nothing we can do will prevent it. But will we be able to stay awake for it, or will he come when we're half asleep, exhausted from all our hectic preparations? Only if we re-orient ourselves to focus on his coming, will we be awake and ready to receive his gifts.

-Carol Everson