“Come, Lord Jesus,” the Advent mantra, means that all of Christian history has to live out of a kind of deliberate emptiness, a kind of chosen non-fulfillment. Perfect fullness is always to come, and we do not need to demand it now. This keeps the field of life wide open and especially open to grace and to a future created by God rather than us. This is what it means to be “awake,” as the gospel urges us...
Wow. What a contrast to the "perfect fullness" we not only demand on Christmas morning, but most Sunday mornings -- in fact most mornings. What a delicious twist! Living out of deliberate emptiness, a chosen non-fulfillment leading to a field of life wide open with possibilities. Wow. To give up trying to construct my own future or our future collectively as a community, nation and world, and daily, with arms wide open to embrace the future created by God.
I think I have my mantra for this season.
I think I want to stay awake.
Come Lord Jesus!
