All the Ways We Watch and Wait in Advent

This is not the kind of Advent watching and waiting that the prophets advised.

A few hours ago, I got a phone call from my sister-in-law who is living in our backyard cottage.  She said that water had come into the cottage, and because she knew she had power strips on the floor, she worried she might be electrocuted.

Happily, those fears didn't come to pass.  But I could hear the water as she waded through the cottage assessing the situation.  I'm two hours away, across the state.  I thought about getting in the car and racing back.  But it was dark and would be for hours.

She moved what she could, and we corresponded by way of Facebook.  We agreed we would wait for daylight to see what we should do next.  She's got the keys to our house, so she was able to make it there.  So far, there aren't flood waters in our house, but I'm not sure that either of our cars will be O.K.  And of course, there's the issue of the cottage.

Let me remember that many of us are keeping watch this Advent (and every other season too), and it's often not for cheery reasons.  I think of the phone call I got almost exactly 15 years earlier than my sister-in-law's phone call--my mother-in-law had fallen and was in the emergency room.  That was a horrible time of watching and waiting.

I think of those in Australia who have been evacuated because of the worst wildfires in Australian history.  They, too, watch and wait.

I think about those ancient prophets and about our Advent texts.  This kind of watching and waiting is not so dissimilar from the larger Advent watching and waiting that our Advent texts describe.  Joseph awakened out of sleep because of a message from the angel--yes, I can relate, although I'm not yet sure what this middle of the night message really means.  My early morning thoughts are to move to higher ground.

But I also think of other Advent texts, the messages that seem like disaster at first glance (a surprise pregnancy) but are blessings in disguise.  Let me remain open to the mysteries.

Let me also say a prayer for those who watch and wait, especially for those who will not be getting any blessings in disguise this Advent season.  Let me pray for us all, that we can continue to do create new life out of so much wreckage.