Wake Up

Take heed, watch and pray, for ye do not know when the time is -- Mark 13:33 (Darby)

This is the first Sunday of Advent.  The watchword for Advent is, "Wake Up."  Life in these United States is largely about sleeping.  Most of us hate getting up, not wanting to face our day.  We have gotten anesthetized to being alive and alert; so many things numb us out.  Shopping is a fix to remove us from troubles; alcohol deadens the senses; busy-ness helps distract from all the demands of which we do not want to think.  There are problems galore and we simply don't want to know or see.  But, the coming Christ admonishes us to, "Wake up!  Watch!  Pray, for we do not know when the time is."  Yet, we don't wake up to His coming.  Is it because we don't believe it's immanent?  Don't have time for religious hocus pocus?  Can't find the time for watching meditatively?  Sleeping is easier.  Is it?


Is sleeping easier than hope, than peace, than joy, than love -- the traditional virtues represented by each lighted candle in the Advent wreath?  Is sleeping more desirable than waking up to the healing, transformation, and assurance Christ brings into our lives and the world?  This Advent let go of your sleepiness and all the things that help you stay asleep: consumerism, work, substance abuse, and busy schedules.  Take time to evaluate your life.  Light an Advent Candle and ponder the "eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father."(1)

Prayer:
Dear God, open our eyes to see and our ears to hear the wonder of heaven touching earth.  Amen.

(1) Words from the traditional "Nicene Creed."