Wednesday in the First Week of Advent
Oh, that my ways were made so direct
that I might keep your statutes! Psalm 119:5
I merge into the heavy traffic on the interstate and am pleased that it is moving at a good pace. However, the car in front of me slows, almost imperceptibly at first, but then significantly as we drop well below the speed limit. I am flummoxed. I don’t have time for this. There are groceries to buy, kids to pick up at two different locations, an errand to run. I have it all mapped out efficiently. I can get it all done. If only the traffic will pick up.
The car in front of me adroitly maneuvers into the passing lane revealing the obstacle to my speedy progress. A construction vehicle. Moving very slowly. I pull up close behind it and then realize this is not wise; I should probably give it more space. That’s when I notice the caution sign plastered in large bold letters across the back of the truck, “Construction Vehicle: Keep Alert for Sudden Stops and Turns.”
Keep alert. Of course, that is the Advent decree. And there are sudden stops and turns as we navigate our way simultaneously to the crèche and the second coming. Prophecies that draw us up short followed by words of comfort. Frantic preparations interrupted by moments of bliss and beauty. At times I think it would be lovely if someone would take over, direct my ways, so that I might follow Christ unswervingly. But I am a work in progress; my spiritual life is forever under construction.
Perhaps we are our own construction vehicles, always on our way to make repairs and improvements in our lives as we wend our way toward Christ. It would behoove us to be mindful of each other, to treat one another – and ourselves - gently, because on this Advent journey anyone of us may need to stop, readjust, look again for the star of Bethlehem, the light with which God beckons us to love.
Copyright Anne E. Kitch 2013
