Waiting

In these waning moments of Advent, we find ourselves waiting for water.  Temperatures dipping down to 17 degrees are not kind to country water wells.  Knowing that we would likely be without water today gave us reason to fill up the bathtubs with water before calling it a day yesterday, but aside from that small reservoir,  there is no water.  It was also a day for busting up the ice in the cow troughs so they could get to the precious stuff under the hard cold ice shield.  Perhaps, on Christmas Day we will receive the gift of warmer temperatures and water once again flowing from the faucets that have always brought this precious gift to us.   

Some might say this is creation's way of speaking to us one last time about the way the Advent season calls us to live in a state of anticipation and with a spirit of hopeful waiting.  Surely, it is a reminder that some days are about living with hope for tomorrow.  In a few hours the churches across the landscape will be filled with those who gather carrying this hope in their heart.  Some will go through the motions of Christmas Eve worship, but others will cling to the hope being proclaimed as if it is a matter of life and death.     

Actually, this hope which springs from our heart toward heaven is a thing of life and death.  It is a hope that what is temporal, finite, and sometimes very hard will be overcome by what is eternal and full of glory.  Christ came long ago in Bethlehem to open our eyes to this reality of life and may these days be for all of us a time of once again seeing it with the eyes of our spirit.