Second Coming

I've been thinking about Advent a bit the past few weeks.

I guarantee that I am not the only person who feels a little (lot?) overwhelmed with the celebration of materialism that Christmas has become. And it's not just this year with the gloomy economy that is shaping these thoughts for me, though I can't deny that the bleak nature of things right now has impacted a lot of us. The pace of our days has just hammered me as well. It seems that we hardly have time to breathe any more. Know what I mean? It's rush to buy this, and rush to go here, all while seeming to be on auto-pilot. Do we even think about what we're doing? Why we're doing it? Do we even stop to consider what the source of the stress is that is weighing on us?

Of course, I'm indicting myself in all of that. We didn't even start shopping until December 14. I got on the Web and broke the ice. We finished up on December 20. It amazes me to consider that some folks will start shopping for NEXT Christmas at this year's "Day After Christmas" sales. Are we crazy? What really concerns me is that Christmas is now just 3 days away, and I have not shared ONE single Advent devotional or thought with my family. The wreath and candles are on my dining room table. But that's been the extent of our "remembrance." Nice.

So I woke up yesterday thinking about Easter. That's not a typo. My thought, which I try and reflect on each Good Friday, is that the death of Jesus is meaningless unless there is a Resurrection. Good Friday could never be "good" if it wasn't followed by Easter. Advent, then, is much like that for me. Advent is about the waiting, the anticipating, of Christ's coming. But I wonder if I short-change Advent by not considering it in light of Jesus' second coming. Christmas proves deeply moving to me in that I learn not only that Jesus came – Immanuel, God with us – but it reminds me that He is coming again. So I can add my voice to those over the ages who simply pray, "Come, Lord Jesus."

May I – and may you – rest in the truth that Jesus came once, and He will come again.

May there be Peace in that for you this Christmas season.

AMEN.