OK… call me scooge, but by the time Christmas actually rolls around, I feel drained and exhausted. Empty if you will. Some of it comes from working at the South Plains Food Bank.
Don’t get me wrong. I love what we do at the food bank. But during the Christmas season in particular, I see that everything we are doing for some of the people I know really isn’t enough. Maybe I take this stuff too personally, but it breaks my heart to see some of the individuals and families coming through our food lines. I’ve seen these faces before. I care about them. And it frustrates me to no end to see some of these families marking time. Marking time for what?
I forget that the season of Advent is about taking time to prepare for the coming of Christ into our world. About taking time to make space in our lives for the presence of God. A time to embrace and be embraced by the love of God.
When I feel drained and emptied, I remember a quote from Augustine: Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty.
Come oh come Immanuel. I am waiting. I am empty.
David Weaver—Boomers
Second B Advent 2011 