Waiting for the Sunrise

In the final prophetic book of the Old Testament, Malachi promises a Day of the Lord where God's light will rise to vindicate the faithful.  The metaphor of a sunrise is powerful:

"But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall" (Mal. 4: 2).

"Advent" is the season of four weeks preceding the celebration of Christmas, the birth of the Messiah. It is the season during which we await his arrival.  With his birth, came the rising of the sun of righteousness.  The arrival of the Son of God is like the rising of the morally pure sun in a world dominated by the morally corrupt darkness.

During this season, we can get preoccupied with preparing for the material events--special gatherings and meals, decorations, and gift-giving.  These are all actually rather morally-neutral activities. Whether or not they are "good" things depends on our hearts as we do them.

Perhaps we need to make sure we also get engaged in the spiritual event that we are celebrating--the advent of the Son of God--while we are still doing the material events.  All it takes is a slight "tweak" to what we may already be planning.  While we're doing our decorating, let's allow our souls to be delighted with the beauty of it all.  When we sit down to a meal together, give people a chance to share a word of appreciation to everyone else.  When we exchange gifts, let's begin with a prayer of thanks for God's Gift to us.

"For God so loved the world that he gave...Jesus!"