Jack Hardaway
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All the desserts for Thanksgiving are on the side table, apple pie, cherry pie, lemon meringue, pecan pie, chocolate cake.
Glory, glory!
One of the children in his excitement leans against the table, and the table leaf gives way and suddenly folds down, and all the pies and the cake plop upside down on the floor.
That moment of breathless silence.
Surprise!
Running out the door, late for work, and the tire is flat.
Surprise!
The unexpected.
Advent. The season of expecting the unexpected.
Expecting the arrival of God.
God who is like an unexpected flood sweeping us away
God who is like a thief in the night.
God who is like suddenly losing someone who we thought would always be there.
God who is like suddenly waking up from sleep, we thought we were awake before, but we weren’t.
The breathless silence.
Prepare for that, the breathless silence.
God’s arrival is like that.
Watch. Wait. Prepare. Be vigilant. Expectant.
God’s arrival is like suddenly finding that the tomb is empty.
The heart flutters, losing its rhythm, our stride is broken.
We begin the Christian year holding our breath.
The advent of God.
That breathless silence before the holy is what holds us together.
The Advent of God is bigger than our disagreements and divisions and the many ways that our lives fall apart.
It stops our warring ways.
We give up learning war any more, swords are beaten into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks.
God is like that.
That is Advent.
Be ready to be surprised.
Be ready for the breathless silence.