A Reflection by Chris Bodden:
To tell the truth, I had never really been able to get my head around Advent (or Lent for that matter), something that has happened but is still yet to come. I have always been eager to engage in the practice, but just couldn’t quite get there in my head.
But now, my life has become “advent,” in a certain sense. As many of you know, Rebekah and I have been in the process of adopting a child for the last year and three months. Many of you have asked me “How is the process going?” And to that, I responded with something like, “Just waiting” or “Nothing yet.” From July to November, there was nothing we could do. All the paperwork was in and we were just waiting to be matched with a child.
You are probably thinking “that’s just regular waiting.” But wait, there’s more! A few weeks ago, Rebekah and I were matched with a child. She is a lovely one-and-a-half-year-old who is currently staying in an orphanage in a city in northwestern China. We know how this ends. We would be happy to go any pick her up today if we could, but we need to get one more round of paperwork approved before that can happen. We are stuck in the already, but not yet.
So, as we prepare our hearts and home for our daughter’s arrival, I think back to the incarnation. I thank God for our coming daughter, and I thank God for teaching me how to grasp Advent more fully through this experience – to trust in what has been accomplish and to hope for what is to come.
“Mary”
A Poem for Advent
By Arianne Braithwaite Lehn
Waiting time is pregnant time.
Hold,
Hope,
Trust.
Possibilities and promise push
my soul to its outer-rim,
making haven in the uncomfortable.
What lies beyond beckons
to what grows within.
“Come…”
Creaking, groaning, stretching,
the womb grows and Hands shape my soul.
I cannot expand any further,
it hurts too much.
This rim.
It’s the limit.
Then pain and grace interlock fingers,
holding me fast in perfect embrace.
I breathe into birth
and cry my
raw, new melody.