Page 17 - Seasons Magazine Advent 2020

simply being with Jesus
This year, more than most, it will be more tempting to find events that make us feel festive, when sometimes we need to just sit with Jesus and what we have to offer.
Holidays will be different; there are guidelines and stressors and divisions among families. There is loneliness and change and void. It will be tempting to fill the void, to create new things to avoid feeling the lack and satisfy our short attention spans. This is our tendency as humans.
When Malachi’s room was finally ready, it looked sparse in comparison to others’ rooms that I had seen. It was tempting to cram more in, just as this year I already feel tempted to try to fill the voids of our traditional holiday festivities and gatherings.
I don’t hate parties, and neither does Jesus. His ministry started at one, and our time on earth will end with one. But I also sense Jesus inviting me this year not to miss him in the open space. Sometimes I fill life so full that I miss being with Jesus.
And this year, more than most, it will be more tempting to find events that make us feel festive, when sometimes we need to just sit with Jesus and what we have to offer. Anxiety, sadness, contentment, resentment, frustration, disillusionment. Whatever
it is, bring it to Jesus, and what I wonder, is how HE will fill us up. How he will fill that space and the void that we feel so deeply right now but that has always been there, covered up by other things and people and events and activity.
When Jesus came as a baby, he didn’t need much. He just needed presence with Mary and Joseph in that space with the animals. He still doesn’t need much, just us and whatever we bring. When God spoke at the beginning of time, he created and filled the earth with beauty and wonder. What could he create in us, in his people and the church, if we invite him into the void, give him our attention, and let him create?