In Advent, the four weeks of expectant waiting for the Christ child invite us to welcome that sense of “not yet but in the fullness of time” into our faith lives and challenge us to trust in “the slow work of God.” As Christians, we wait not just for the baby in the manger, which was a historical event in the distant past; we wait for that time when we can recognize God’s presence in all things at all times and in all places. [Certain] spiritual practices [can] be especially helpful in cultivating this sense of hopeful anticipation that keeps God in the driver’s seat and my own shortsighted need for control under wraps.
When I am stuck in traffic – or stuck in a situation in which I impatiently wait for some future development – I often think of my experience as one of “absence.” Being isolated into a small vehicle behind miles and miles of unmoving machinery feels very much like a “lacking.” I’m not where I want to be, I can’t do what I want to do, I won’t get to those I wish to see when I’d like. This “absence” of all I long for can feel very empty and barren. But when I remember that God is always “present,” not absent at all, the space in which I wait becomes filled with sacred possibility.
Centering prayer has been a helpful practice for me when I’m tempted to think that “not yet” is the same as “nothing at all.” When I meditate quietly, breathing in the silence of hopeful expectation, and return my focus to a sacred word or phrase, I am reminded that there is a substance to my waiting. The phrases I like to use most are simple ones, like “Holy God” or “Peace of Christ.” God is present in the generative emptiness of my surrender to him. There can be a powerful experience of grace in the waiting, and Advent is an ideal time to begin or recommit to this form of contemplative prayer.
–Mary Ann Steutermann
Image source: https://barneywiget.com/2016/07/05/stuck-in-traffic-whats-going-on-up-there/
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