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Advent and other waiting

   As I drove back last night from a Christmas party held in Bartlesville, I couldn't help but have the song "In the Waiting" by Greg Long run through my mind. When I turned my Ipod to this particular song, the opening few notes broke me. The subtle but simple guitar, the soft piano in the background, the tender opening lines: "Pain, the gift nobody longs for still it comes..." continued to break me.
   I haven't written anything yet about Advent, because I don't feel as though I have given this season of Advent enough time and energy. I have spent too much time focused on myself and what I wanted and have forgot to give any time to this season.
   Waiting...one of the hardest things that we as humans can do. I imagine that God allows us to have situations in our life that encourage us to wait for something...to anticipate. And the greatest situation we have been given is the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ. We, as Catholics, and other liturgical churches, celebrate the time before Christmas in anticipation for the first time we met our Savior, in anticipation for the second time we meet our Savior.
   Advent means arrival. Arrival. We are waiting for the arrival of something or event. And in the waiting for Christ, as I was listening to this captivating song, I also listened to the other parts of the song:
    "It seems the hardest part is waiting on You. When all I really want, is just to see your hand move."
I have been waiting for the subtle move of something. I feel as though I have spent the week in a stagnant state of nothing...of blahness. But this song rejuvenated within me a sense of something more. I knew that when I heard the chorus I would gain a sense of deeper peace.
    "I want a peace beyond my understanding. I want to feel it fall like rain, in the middle of my hurting. I want feel Your arms as they surround me, and let me know that it's okay, to be here in this place, resting in the peace that only comes...in the waiting."
   This is what it is about. The peace of advent. The stillness in the waiting. I knew at that moment that the stagnant moments of my week was just the stillness of my waiting. I knew then that I needed to take my focus off of myself and put it on others, but more importantly, put it on Christ. Long's words continued to give me the remembrance that I needed. I needed to remember that it is: "Time. Time to let it go and just believe. Trusting in what no one else but You can see."
    My humanity has been preoccupied, but God is bigger. And this advent season is not wasted. It is our time to wait in anticipation for the beauty of the One who brings the ultimate peace and understanding.

Happy 4th Sunday of Advent
   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqN6X-hd0nU

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