Why do we have an entire liturgical season dedicated to longing for Someone who is already here? Yes, Jesus has come, and he has returned to his Father. But he has also said, “I am with you until the end of the age.” So which is it? Ah…or is it both?
The Eternal Word really never left his Father. But in his “coming” he bent down and entered space-time, and dwelt with us, taking on a physicality we can see and touch. But that isn’t all. He bent way down, into our grief, our corruption, our dying, and our crying. He got himself all bound-up in more than swaddling bands. More, now risen from all this dying, he will return, clothed with the cosmos, and wearing every atom, for he has not lost anything the Father gave him. I believe this.
So what is Advent all about? All this might be true, but it might not be true for me. It is one thing to know about this, and another to know it because it has made its home in me. This is the mysterious “coming” that Advent is all about. It is a love story. It is discovering my primary intimacy, my “first love.” It is discovering the Soul of my soul. Once I am in touch with this One I will be “home.” Until I ground myself in this First Love, all my other relationships will be fighting to take its place. I will feel out of kilter, un-centered, as though I “don’t have it all together.” The “it” is my First Love. When it’s in place, all my other loves gather around it and dance. Peace is its gift to me, and joy is evidence that I have come home.
Funny paradox…Advent is all about my coming…home to Someone who is always waiting for me, Someone who has already come, and will finally come to claim me, because he won’t be complete until I’m there.
History, Mystery, and Majesty…
You came once, long ago…
You come…in and out of my awareness of You…
And you will come finally
To claim me.
Clean out my soul with longing
Empty it to make room.
Be it a tavern or a temple
Make it your own.
Center me in Yourself
So that I see clearly
All that you have given me to love.
You who are always coming
Now it is my turn…
To discover my home in You.
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