The Season of Advent is upon us, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of the Christ at Christmas. At the beginning of Advent, many churches read these words from the prophet Isaiah: “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.” I often think about those words and what they might mean to us as we go through this time of the year.

For many people, the month of December (the Season of Advent) is a busy, rushed time of preparing for “Christmas”: sending out holiday greetings, shopping for gifts, decorating homes, attending neighborhood or office Christmas parties. There never seems to be enough hours in the day during the “Christmas rush.”

It appears that the true meaning of Advent gets lost in the busyness, the hectic and demanding rush of preparing for the Holidays. Even the sounds of popular Christmas music on the radio and in shopping centers are focused more on “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” than on “preparing the way of the Lord” who is coming to our lives.

Hopefully this year we can intentionally think about preparing for the gift of the Presence of God in our lives. Maybe we can try to be more awake, more conscious of God in our every day living, and more deliberate in reaching out to people in a loving and God-like way. Perhaps we can give people the gift of our presence through a phone call, a visit, a word of encouragement, a thoughtful note, a smile, a time of shared prayer.

Let us truly enter this Season with an awareness of preparing the way of the Lord. May we fill our hearts and our souls with God’s compassion and hope.

Beloved Giver of Life, at this Advent Season, help us to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts, our lives, in our communities, and in the world. You have so generously shared your Presence with us. Now teach us to share that Presence with others in this Holy Season. Amen.

Joy Carol
www.joycarol.com