Anticipation

If you’re my age, you probably remember the old Heinz ketchup commercials that dealt with waiting?  First there was the song “Anticipation is making me wait”, but my favorite was this one.  Or, if you’re not my age, you may remember one of the best lines from the Rocky Horror Picture Show:  “I see you shiver with antici…………………………………………………………………pation. (Tim Curry did a great job on that line!)  Anyway, anticipation is definitely the word of the season.  What season you ask?  Glad you asked.  Advent.  Occurring between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it lasts only 4 weeks making it the shortest season of the Christian calendar.  Unfortunately, because of the timing, it is also one of the most overlooked seasons as well.  Between the rush of cooking Thanksgiving dinner, black Friday, Cyber Monday, all the other Christmas shopping, cleaning the house, getting ready for relatives, studying for finals (put that one in there just for you, Becky) and who knows what else, there is little time left to….anticipate.  Yup, that’s what advent is all about.  Anticipation.  Some would say it’s about waiting, but it’s more than that.  It’s about waiting with hope.  But it’s more than that, it’s waiting with a hope of certainty.  Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”.  THAT’S the kind of anticipation I’m talkin’ about!

So what does that anticipation look like?  Well, I’ve seen something like it several times in my life, but I think one of the best examples is pregnancy (no wonder we say the mother is “expecting”!)  The thing about pregnancy is we all know it’s going to end – it is just a brief time before “the big event”.  There are several characteristics of that time:  first (as most moms will tell you) even though it’s a “short time”, it doesn’t always seem that way.  In fact, it can seem to go on forever!  Second, this isn’t just a time of waiting.  Parents spend the time of pregnancy getting ready for the baby.  Building a nursery, choosing a name, buying clothes, etc.  That time also involves keeping the mother healthy – eating a good diet, taking prenatal vitamins, and so on.

This brings us back to Advent, at several levels.  First, Advent sets our minds back to the time “between” the Old and New Testament – the time of waiting for the Messiah, Jesus.  Second, it sets our minds forward to Jesus’ second coming.  In the first instance, we know it was a limited time.  In the second instance, we must rely on that faith mentioned in Hebrews 11.  In the first instance, the Israelites weren’t ready for Jesus.  In the second….?

So…..here’s my question about this advent.  How do I practice the discipline of anticipation?  What can I do over the next 3 weeks (yup, already one week behind!) to anticipate Christmas and everything it represents (past and present)?  I’m still working on that, but I suspect (looking at past blog entries) it has something to do with 1) being deliberate, 2) focusing on Jesus, 3) spending time in God’s presence, and 4) being still (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally).

shivering with anticipation,

John