Advent is a season of waiting, of watching, of hoping for what is to come. In the circular way of creation, day follows night, spring follows winter, the swallows return to Capistrano, the geese fly south, the groundhog pops up to check the weather, the monarch butterflies take off from St. Mark's on the way across the Gulf of Mexico to Central America year after year after year. So it is with the Church year. We have experienced Advent before, and Christmas, and Epiphany, and Lent, and Easter, and Pentecost, and the long season after Pentecost. Even so, every season is somewhat different, every time. Our eyes may be opened to see things in a new way; the ears of our heart may be awakened to hear the music of the spheres as never before; while, day by day, year by year, we are called into a more intimate relationship with the Holy One.

As we wait for the celebration of Christ's birth and look forward to his coming again in Advent, we cultivate the virtue of patience--something that is in short supply in our culture of instant gratification. We are too busy about many things to wait for anything, especially for anything we can't see with our eyes, hold in our hands, or put in the bank. It is time for us to pause, to take some time in silence, to realize what has been missing in our lives, to reorder our priorities, and to wait patiently for what God is providing for us in this season. As the prophet Isaiah (40: 31) tells us:

". . .those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint,"

ready to meet whatever may come.