Be Present in the Present

We are now moving closer to Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday season, and with the season to come there is many things that are going on, gatherings of our families, events in the community, shopping and decorating and cooking . . . It becomes so easy to close our eyes, rush through this season, and come through the other side and miss what truly is important, our connection with God through Jesus and our connection with others, both in our families and church, and the connection that we might have available to other people who God is bringing into our lives. How many times have we been in line in the grocery store (the lines are much longer this time of year) and in the middle of the sea of humanity never acknowledge the person in front of you, or the person behind you, or the person at the counter who is working so hard to make ends meet for this season? Why do we instead begin to thumb through the People magazine in the rack, or just stand and fume and blow and stomp because the line is not moving fast enough?
The “holiday” season (the word comes from “holy” and “day”) has another name in the church. We call this time Advent, which means “coming,” and just as if we are expecting visitors to come in our house, we in the church are preparing ourselves to welcome the arrival of Emmanuel, of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Yet, too often, in our preparing, we miss the reason for the effort. In our homes, we become so busy preparing for people that we forget to actually talk to the people we are preparing for. In our spiritual life, we can become so busy doing things for Christmas that we forget to connect with our Savior, who is the reason why we have Christmas.
Here is a challenge for us this Advent season. It is very simple. Instead of this being a season of things to do and get, let this instead be a season where we connect with others and connect with God. Let this season be about relationships, and not about events and things. Talk to God, talk to your family, talk to the stranger in your midst. Find a devotional time each day, have a meal with your kids, say hello and “Merry Christmas” to the mom who is wrestling with the kid at the checkout counter who wants every candy bar in the store. Be present in the present, and you might find the best present of all. May God bless you and yours this Advent season.