Being an Advent Person

I'm an Advent person. I did not realize this until a couple of years ago. I used to think Advent was only about the preparation and anticipation of Christmas. Christmas, focused on the mystery of the incarnation, of God made human, was the key to the season. For me, advent itself was significant only as it helped to highlight the importance of Christmas. Of course, this interpretation was also all I could handle as end of the semester grading, holiday parties, shopping and wrapping presents consumed and continue to consume most every moment of every December, year after year.

But, I've learned that Advent itself has its own significance, worthy of my attention throughout the entire year. Advent comes from the Latin "adventus" which means "coming." While Advent does of course point to the coming of Jesus, the advent period itself is the time BEFORE the coming. Advent is about waiting, like the pregnant virgin, caught in a time between what is and what will soon be. Advent reminds us that we humans are forever caught in "not yet" desiring more than what is, restless in the present. Beyond the preparing and anticipation of Christmas, Advent points to the incompleteness that marks our human condition always.

Augustine of course is famous for saying that our souls are restless until they rest in God. Over the past couple of years, I've become more aware of this tendency in myself. Even when things are going perfectly well, I notice that I still desire more. I still ache. I still wonder and yearn and long. According to St. Ignatius, God shapes us and operates in our lives through our deepest desires. To be an Advent Person is to acknowledge our longings, to touch and hold our deepest desires, what we are not yet and yet hope we will become. As I ache and yearn and long and share all this with God, I am living advent. I am an advent person.
Peace,
Kristina