Advent I

I always look forward to the advent season. There’s something powerful about looking ahead. This year I am particularly aware of my need to look ahead. I have spent a great deal of the fall looking back and reflecting on where I have come from. This process of remembering has been done with a delicate fondness and a poignant sense of grief.
It occurred to me the other day that I have been living through the rear view mirror. I strain my eyes to glimpse the images reflected backwards in the mirror, dizzy to what is going on beside and around me. Although a quick glance at the rear view helps and is necessary while navigating and driving, it ought not to be the only view I have. It is after all a perspective, not all perspectives.
And so I recognize that I need to look through the windshield at the vast panorama that lies before me. Sure I cannot see it all, but I can look around and soak in what is around me right now, while looking ahead to the horizon. In many ways I feel as though I wait for what I don’t know.
Advent comforts me in that regard, as it is the known period of waiting for the incarnation of Jesus. God with flesh. God the neighbour.
Advent looks ahead.
I look ahead in advent, in waiting for what comes.
For advent this year, I will lift my eyes from the rear view mirror, and look ahead.