The good news of Advent is : “The Lord is near.” That’s what the apostle Paul told those in the church in Philippi. That’s what John, the baptizer, told the crowds who gathered around him to hear his prophetic message. The Lord is not only near, but here in our very midst, according to the prophets Isaiah and Zephaniah in our readings from the Hebrew scriptures--Emmanuel, God with us!

Yes, the Lord is near here and now, nearer than our very breath, in fact, but how often do we recognize that awesome, mysterious presence? How often are we able to let go of fretting about the past and/or worrying about the future, to be in the now, the present moment—aware of the messages coming in to us from our surroundings, but not distracted from the reality of God’s presence enfolding us in love and upholding us in all the circumstances of our lives? For most of us, the answer probably is : “not very often,” or perhaps “not often enough.”

Experiencing the presence of God in whatever way it may occur for us is pure grace, but we can dispose ourselves to receive that grace, opening our hearts to welcome God into whatever is going on in our lives at the moment. Brother Lawrence, a 17th century Carmelite monk, calls this disposition “the practice of the presence of God.” For Brother Lawrence, being in communion with God wasn’t just a matter of setting time aside for prayer or worship, it was making space for God in everything he did. It is said that whether he was repairing shoes or peeling potatoes, he was just as aware of and thankful for God’s presence with him as he was in the monastery chapel in communal prayer with his brother monks.

As we continue our Advent preparations for the coming of Christ, may we take a leaf from Brother Lawrence’s book and invite God into our every moment, not just squeezing the Lord into those few moments which may be left over after everything else is done. Only then will we find ourselves rejoicing in the good news that “The Lord is near.”