Advent starts tonight!

The Rolling Stones made a recording: “Time is on my side, oh yes it is!”  Advent is the season, the Time that the Church offers to us to THINK about how we use our TIME.  Time is a gift from God to allow us to develop a relationship, a friendship with God.

That friendship was so important to God that Jesus, the Son of God became incarnate to help us.  Our TIME here ends either with our death or the Lord’s Parousia (His return).

In psalm 57 we pray, “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.”

Advent is the TIME to prepare our hearts, the TIME to get our hearts ready to more fully and more faithfully do God’s work.

Let me share this story with you, A businessman, who prides himself on efficiency, needs a few things at the grocery store.  He estimates that it will take him 30 minutes to complete his shopping. 

Once at the store, he flies through the aisles, picking up the items on his list.  He’s on cruise control – until he runs into an elderly couple looking at laundry detergent, their cart blocking the aisle. 

They fumble through coupons and debate the merits of TIDE vs. WISK.  They finally move one, completely oblivious to the man in a hurry.  UNBELIEVABLE!!

He encounters the couple again at the dairy case.  The businessman knows exactly what the wants but can’t get to the case until Mom and Pop make their selection. 

CLUELESS!!

At the checkout line, the man in a hurry heads to what looks like an open lane.  But there’s the elderly couple again, slowly unloading their cart, rechecking each item against their list.  The businessman scans the other lanes looking for a faster option.  No luck. 

The elderly woman notices the man’s basket, then whispers something to her husband.  In a gentle friendly voice, the elderly man said: “Hey, why don’t you go ahead of us?  You only have a few things.”

“That’s ok…I’m in no hurry,” the businessman says.  The elderly couple’s kindness has stopped his clock.  It dawns on him that their time is precious, too.  As it turns out, the man misses his 30 minute goal by 5 minutes. 

But those 5 minutes were a small price to pay for discovering that only those who give of their time never own it in the first place. 

Take time to appreciate the goodness and love in your life; recognize that it is a gift from God.  Let’s try to use this Advent to “stay awake” to the glimpses of the Lord that are in our midst.

May God be Praised!