by Mark Ott
Have you ever had the experience of driving down the freeway with your mind going even faster than your car, totally consumed with whatever you have to do when you get where you are going, when you come around the bend and see brake lights in front of you for miles down the road? This puts us immediately into a bad mood, as we are forced to rethink our plans for the rest of the day. Have you ever gone to a popular restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night without reservations? You arrive hungry, but the receptionist gives you a little buzzer and says that it will be about an hour and a half wait (or 3 hours, if you go to the Cheesecake Factory!). It’s tempting to just turn in the buzzer and go to McDonalds. Do you remember the first time you ordered something by mail – perhaps a toy off the side of the cereal box? What is it about that little plastic toy that could possibly take six to eight weeks in transit?!
All of these experiences show that, in general, human beings HATE to wait for things. In fact, if we look at the utopic visions of the future that we see in science fiction, they usually seem to find a way to do away with waiting. We will have warp drives and teleporters to instantly get us from place to place, and computer simulators and robotic manufacturers can make whatever we need whenever we need it. The assumption is, the less we have to wait, the happier and more advanced we will be. Waiting is a problem that needs to be solved.
But this poses a real problem for us as we begin the season of Advent, because this is a season in which we are supposed to celebrate waiting. How can we celebrate something that we hate?! And not only do we celebrate waiting, but we also hold it as a central part of our theology and Tradition in the Church.
Every week, we proclaim this theology. After we pray the Our Father at Mass, I say: "Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy, keep us free from sin, and protect us from all anxiety, AS WE WAIT IN JOYFUL HOPE for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ." Do we really mean that we are joyfully waiting, or is this just a nice thing to say to God to let him know we’re thinking about him? There are no "throw away words" in the liturgy. Everything we do here has a deep meaning. In order to help our time of waiting to be joyfully hopeful, then, we need to figure out what is so good about waiting.
The first thing to realize is that the thing we are waiting for is worth waiting for. Jesus alludes to it a bit in the Gospel reading today. He surrounds it in more of that wild sounding apocryphal language, but he says, "You will see the Son of Man coming in power and glory." What will the second coming of Christ look like? We’re not really sure. But just think of how our world has changed because of his first coming: the majority of the citizens of our planet have come to learn from him and follow him; hospitals and universities have been built to his honor; art and architecture have flourished to his tribute; and good works and holy lives have abounded by his invitation. All of this happened because of his first coming, when Jesus "humbled himself" to become like us. Just think of the amazing influence he will have when he comes "in power and glory!"
So we believe that we are waiting for something worthwhile, but why should we have to wait? Why doesn’t Jesus just come back right now? As distasteful as it may seem to us, there are a lot of good qualities about waiting. If we take the time to prayerfully explore them, then our waiting can be more joyful.
G. K. Chesterton once noted that if you’re on the wrong path, it’s not good to be moving too quickly. I realized that fact this past spring when I went backpacking with my brother and two nephews. We started off on this hiking trail in northern Pennsylvania, and we were going to head south for a few hours to camp in the woods by the lake. We thought that we were making pretty good time, until about an hour into it when we came across a sign that said, "Welcome to New York"! Our speed on the wrong path had worked against us. But this can happen in our moral lives, too. We may be heading quickly down the wrong path, so we will need time to realize the error of our ways and turn around.
Another reason waiting may be good is that our hearts may not yet prepared for all that God wants to give us. Think of the Dr. Seuss story of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." The Grinch’s heart at the beginning of the story was at least two sizes too small, and not even cute little Cindy Lou Who could change his evil ways on her own. It was not until he came to understand the love the Whos had for each other that his heart grew enough to join in their celebration. This took time to do.
Or perhaps we may need to wait because we are not yet mature enough to handle what God has in store for us. Think of the 8 year old girl who wants a pony for Christmas. After much begging, her parents get it for her. On Christmas morning, they take her out to the barn to meet the new pony, and then they hand her a big shovel and say, "now it’s time to muck the stalls!" Maybe she’s not quite ready for that part of it. Think also of the story of Joseph from the Old Testament. He was abandoned by his brothers and left for dead, but he eventually rose to a position of power over them. Had his brothers returned to him right away, perhaps he would have sought retribution because of the bitterness in his heart. But because he had time to wait before he met them again, he was eventually able to reconcile the family.
Finally, we may need to wait so that we can grow in humility. Important people don’t have to wait. Movie stars and VIPs get the best tables at restaurants and the best rooms at hotels just by snapping their fingers. The humble and the lowly just have to wait. But who are we to tell God how fast to get things done? With greater humility, we can simply be pleased that God has invited us down this road to salvation. We can be content to get where we are going whenever he wants us to.
Effective waiting with joyful hope really is a significant part of our faith tradition. But it is not necessarily something that comes naturally to us. A good way to grow in the discipline of waiting is to spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Whether you come into the church during the day to spend time in front of the tabernacle or you find a church that offers times of adoration, this kind of prayer continues to be a great way to increase our joyful hope during this time of waiting. In early February, our parish will set aside a weekend to celebrate Eucharistic Adoration. You’ll hear a lot more about this as the time draws closer, but please take advantage of this great opportunity to grow deeper in spirituality, so that every time we gather for Eucharist, it may be an experience of joyful hope.