Advent, right here, right now.

Throughout 2020, I have heard countless people say, “I can’t wait for this year to be over!” (myself included) and it makes perfect sense. This year has been plagued by so much hardship and if there is one thing we can all agree on in our world, it’s that 2020 caught us by surprise and it is not the year we hoped for.

But in many ways, 2020 was not that out of the ordinary. The way I see it, 2020 just woke us up to see our own depravity and fraility. It made us very aware of our need for reconciliation, restoration, healing, and peace. 

This reality won’t change in 2021. If anything, we’ll just go back to a false sense of self or living in an illusion where we are whole, safe, secure, and the world is as it should be *That is until the next major world tragedy strikes again.*

The only way to truly accept the truth of who we are and live in reality, is to live in the present. 

This doesn’t mean being docile or not allowing ourselves to change and be changed.  

Because this isn’t truly living either. But what I am suggesting is to not run from struggle and to discover the opportunity that lies before you, right here and right now. 

Enter Advent. My favorite liturgical season.

Advent is a time that really helps us to live in the present. Advent invites us to be open, to be vigilant, and to accept reality. Instead of dwelling on the past or quickly trying to rush into a new season of life, advent encourages us to slow down and take life all in so that we can encounter Emmanuel, ‘God with us.’ And God with us now. Not when the world is more predictable and ‘normal.’ Not when we are more put together and/or fully healed. Not when all of our dreams are coming true and life is finally going our way. Not when we are feeling our happiest and living our truest selves. Emmanuel comes and encounters us in the truth of our brokenness, anxiety, sorrow, and shame, right here, right now.

But we have to be willing to allow ourselves to be encountered. We have to recognize our need for something more and accept that this moment is all we really have and all we really need. 

So what does this look like practically? 

Well for starters, it looks like being more mindful of our language.

When we’re constantly talking about the future or imagining life being better “if only” we had something, someone, someplace, or some year, we keep ourselves from really seizing the moments we have now and accepting life for what it is. Adjusting our language to focus on the present will help us shift our overall mindset. 

It also looks like creating more time for quiet. 

Oftentimes when life isn’t going our way, we don’t make a lot of time for quiet. Instead, we do a lot of talking aka complaining. We fill our minds with so much noise and distraction to keep us from having to feel the emotions that accompany our loss of control. When we spend more time in silence, we can listen more to what our feelings might be saying, what we are truly needing and/or where God might be leading us. Spending time in silence can also look like reading a good book, praying, or simply resting. 

And lastly, it looks like challenging negative thoughts. 

When things start going wrong in our lives, our inner critic always has something to say. For many of us, we listen to this voice constantly, without really checking the validity of it’s claims. We accept the inner critic’s words as gospel but it’s words usually stem from fear, insecurity, and old wounds and it’s far from the truth. It can be helpful when a negative thought pops in our head, to challenge it by asking ourselves: “How true is that thought?” “What evidence do I have to support that thought?” “What would be the counter-thought?” “Does that counter-thought seem more rational and true?”  

All of these suggestions help you to embrace reality. It helps you to accept the present moment and rest in the “way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:16) so you can truly be “set free.” (John 8:32) 

So I encourage you to really enter advent and use this time to be present and watchful; to be honest with yourself and the reality of your life. To encounter Emmanuel, encounter the Truth, and let it transform you right here and right now.