In the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle, it is easy to get frustrated, upset, depressed, and lose the joy, the excitement and "reason for the season." What can we do to regain the awe and wonder anew - like a child at Christmas?
As we begin Advent, and Lectionary Year B, we once again consider time, and waiting, and what we should do while we wait. This week's focus is on being alert in the context of apocalyptic warnings. Apocalypse is from the Greek which means revelation - an uncovering of meaning. Eschatology is the study of the "end times." In his book History and Eschatology: the Presence of Eternity, Rudolph Bultmann considers Christ the "eschaton" in whose presence we experience the meaning of history. God meets us in the presence of Christ. The Greek term for "end, teleos,means more than far away. It also means "the limit," or "the final issue or result of a state or process." We're talking "end game" here.
The "second coming" is known in Greek as the parousia. In our gospel lesson from Mark, Jesus speaks of the end time and second coming, "Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come..." in the context of the darkening of the sun, the falling of stars, and heaven and earth passing away." He is talking of what ultimately matters. But maybe he is speaking of more than of things to come.
The Rev. Dr. Russell Levinson, Jr. in "Two Minute Warning," discusses this week's gospel not only in the context of the second coming, but also from the perspective of the importance of how we are to live, with expectation and alertness in love and service to God and our fellow man. The opportunity to recognize and live in God's time, kairos, not chronos, can present itself in otherwise unexpected situations, people and places, and especially in the stranger, with Christ present to guide, counsel and advocate for us. We are called to be alert so we don't miss what could be the most important "time of our lives."
As we look at the "end" time, we are about to experience the beginning again in the birth and incarnation of the Christ. From Alpha to Omega, and Omega to Alpha, in Christ, God works his plans through us, his beloved.
I think T.S. Eliot captures the wonder of Advent, seeing in awe and wonder the birth of Christ anew each year in this part of his poem The Gidding V:
"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
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