Comments on Advent

With Advent now here, I find myself haunted by the hymn title, "Rise up, Shepherd, and Follow". As I write, it is very early morning (most would call in very late night) and I just finished driving my son to the airport through a soft rainy drizzle. The empty highways of the sleeping city reminded me of the loneliness we all can feel. Somehow, there is no magic in Christmas anymore, and perhaps, there never was. It was likely all a culture fabrication, another "American illusion". What actually remains, and has always been, is a mystery, a spiritual mystery, which hovers over the season, waiting to befall those who clean the holiday clutter from their lives. Perhaps, it is in the solitude, this loneliness, that we begin to realize that we are no different than the shepherds, that we are like the homeless, alone, subconsciously awaiting a host of angels to break into our lives. And even when that happens, we are unsure whether we can leave the comfort of our fire and current way of life to pursue strange spiritual tidings, to follow a hope that seems almost fantasy and certainly long overdue by our standards. Yet, for those of us who decide to rise and follow, the mystery awaits us. We go, not bearing gifts, but bringing our souls, filled with wondering and doubting as well as excited with hope. This is not a pilgrimage through Christmas trees, parties and "holiday spirit". It is the anticipation of a fulfilled prophecy as we quietly walk in darkness toward a miracle, the mystery of all time - Immanuel, God with us.
God, grant me the courage to become a shepherd, a shepherd to follow You and a shepherd to attend and care for my flocks.
Luke 2:15b-16 "The shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’"

-David G