To wait with trust

I just returned from a glorious jog (which is something of a contradiction in my life) around my neighborhood this morning and I am pleased to report it is going to be a beautiful day in North Texas! I found myself thinking about Advent and what it means to wait. More specifically, what, if anything, am I waiting for this Advent? Do I have a sense of expectancy or will the rhythm of the holidays drown out the still, small voice of God?

As the exercise progressed I came back to one of the returning themes in my journey: trust. We wait for things unseen, or, at best, we wait for things that we have seen obscurely. The birth of a child, meeting a new friend face-to-face for the first time, waiting to receive a package in the mail, the Reign of God, to name but a few examples. The question began to morph: do I trust God enough to wait with joyful expectancy for all that is to come? Have I experienced the gift of the presence of God through the Spirit in such a way that I can trust God's goodness and God's love to be stronger than evil, stronger than hate, stronger than the toxic mixture of sentimentality and consumerism that so often marks this time of year?

At that moment in my morning exercise, just as I was pondering the depth of God's love, grace and justice, and how I had been blessed to experience it in the past, a flock of wild geese began honking in the distance. I watched them rise over the trees, turn directly overhead and then fly off in the distance and I felt a great sense of assurance that I could continue to trust God and to wait with joyful expectancy for all that is to come this season!

In Celtic spirituality, the lone wild goose is marked as a symbol for the Holy Spirit in all of it's unpredictable wildness. I'm not sure what a gander of geese represents but I am going with strength in numbers! I have no doubt that God is at work and active in this world and that God has created us to partner with God in co-creating this world. Though I am not sure what will unfold this season, I am excited to see what's next! May we all be open to receiving and then embodying the wisdom, compassion, strength, humility and justice of Jesus this season.