Waiting in Expectation Like a Child
“When we are secretly cynical, we will not receive a thing, not a crumb of Light and we will cement our cynicism in place for another year.” Advent is a time of waiting, waiting in the dark. In Canada, it is cold and it is also the darkest time of the year, so the image of lighting one candle each week is powerful. The flames are hot and bright, the exact opposite to the weather, to the physical reality that we see around us in our daily lives. If we are open and humble, the flames of the Advent candles shine as a beacon of hope in the darkness, symbols of the Light of the world who will come on Christmas morning. But how do we wait? Do we wait stoically or with joy? Do we wait like a child, a child who trusts that his daddy will keep His promises or have life’s disappointments left us jaded and closed off to any spiritual surprises? Come to think of it, how many of us actually expect anything to happen to us on Christmas morning? When we are...