They may fill our hearts and minds with torrential fear and dread...and we may cower under our bed covers and say, please, just let this end. Advent readings acknowledge the presence of all that torments and terrifies-- and they invite us to stand in that turmoil with open, trusting hearts that will receive the seeds of hope and new life. In the midst of the shouts of the alarmists, something else is happening. Even in the midst of suffering and darkness, Love and Light are approaching. We don't need to run hither and yon to pursue God... Rather, we stand in readiness to attend to God's marvellous approach to us!
Learn from the fig tree... it is woody...and winding...and not at all appealing, perhaps.
But there are also tender places where the shoots of new green will sprout. There is a beautiful and bountiful promise that is germinating, just as tender new shoots are embedded in the woody stems of dormant trees.
Take a closer look at the regions of life and relationship that seem hardened or barren, even dead. Where is God's love pulsing? Where is hope preparing for its entrance? It could be that just below the surface of sorrow you will discover the leaves of new joy...previously unforeseen possiblities.
We acknowledge suffering, pain and death. But we don't hover around a corpse of life and feed upon its decay. In these days of Advent we look beyond all of that to the infinite display of God's Love and Life in Christ.
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