By the time we got to the last pile of leaves here on Friday, the sunset had long vanished, we were working by the light of the parking lot lights. Such is the darkness that we experience as our days continue to grow shorter and shorter.
But for many of us, the darkness of our lives is experienced every day, whether it is the darkness that comes with depression and the feeling of hopelessness, or with addiction & a feeling of powerlessness. Whether it is the darkness of feeling that we don’t have enough as we live pay check to pay check… We can feel that we are far too often running on one of those hamster wheels that we can never get off.
Jesus said that in our lives, there will be darkness, but he calls us to stay alert, keep awake for the sign of God, our master, in our midst… and maybe we need a little help.
There is a 30-second ad for Home Goods, a little boy is going through the "monsters under the bed" anxiety stage. Each night at bedtime, his understanding parents patiently check for monsters behind the closet door, under his bed, in the dresser. And to further assure him that he has nothing to be afraid of, they place a special lamp, with a friendly whale at the base, to keep him company at night as he falls asleep. The whale lamp works like a charm.
Well, the little boy soon becomes a big brother. And the first night his new baby sister comes home, he gives his little sister his first big-brother gift: his friendly blue whale lamp to keep her company as she falls asleep, and then he goes through all the doors of the nursery and searches under the baby's crib himself to make sure there are no monsters lurking.
This charming little commercial is about the patience to help one another through life's scary passages, selflessness to walk together in hard times; I think of those who have gone through the long, dark road of addiction, and who on the other side become sponsors to help those navigating the darkness now.
Jesus said, “Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.”
Such words from Jesus are not about the scary darkness, but about the life we live now in the midst of it, to keep watch for the presence of hope, life and goodness that is all around us, and to help one another.
An honor student, frustrated with his life and with school, worried about what tomorrow may bring, approached his teacher asking for some guidance.
“The story goes,” says the teacher in response to his students request for help, “That a Buddhist Monk was walking through the mountains one day. Then, out of nowhere, a tiger appears, chasing the monk towards the edge of a cliff. The monk, in his quest to escape the tiger, runs to the edge of the cliff and climbs over the side, where he sees five other tigers 15 feet below him, waiting to eat him.
So the monk is just hanging there, holding on to a vine on the side of the cliff, waiting there for the little chance he has to escape or for his imminent demise. Then, as the monk hangs there, exploring his options, he turns to the left and sees a strawberry. He smiles, “Wow what a magnificent strawberry!” he says to himself. So, he picks it and he eats it.
The student waited for his teacher to continue but it was clear that the teacher was done with the story. “That’s it? That’s the story? The monk is about to be eaten by tigers so he reaches out to pick and eat a strawberry?” the student exclaimed. “What’s the point?” he added.
The teacher replied, “The lesson is to know and embrace the experience of being alive. You must be alive every second you are alive.”
The student responded, “But teacher, everyone is alive when they are alive.”
“No,” said the teacher. “It’s the experience of being alive in each moment, in each experience, good and bad. We must be alive every second we are alive and not simply exist and live out our days.”
The student, confused, questioned his teacher, asking, “But everyone alive is alive, aren’t they?” he insisted.
“No. Look at you now,” explained the teacher. “You are running around being chased by tigers, consumed with your thoughts of how it could be better, how you could be better if only things were different. You can’t be alive if you are living in fear and if you’re living in fear you can’t see and experience life; the magnificence of your life that is right in front of you in each moment.”
The teacher asked, “Are you running around, grinning over the feeling of being the luckiest, most fortunate and appreciative person in the world because of what IS present in your life today, or are you consumed with fear, what you DON’T have in your life or what may possibly happen sometime in the future?” The student thought for a moment, looked up at his teacher, smiled, and continued on with his day…” (adapted from a Zen story retold by D.T. Suzuki)
Jesus said, “And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
Jesus calls us to the same challenge: to pay attention, to watch for the signs of God's presence in our midst, to be awake to the most important and lasting things of life. Our lives are an Advent in which we come to realize that our time is precious and limited, that our lives constantly change and turn and are transformed - whether we are ready or not, whether we comprehend what is happening or are overwhelmed by it. Advent calls us to "watch," to pay attention to the signs of God's unmistakable presence in our lives, to live life expectantly and gratefully as a gift from God, like the monk finding that strawberry.
Pastor & author Richard Rohr writes that faith and spirituality begin with "seeing. It's not about earning or achieving but about "paying attention": paying attention to the presence of God in every joy and sorrow, in every pain and trauma, in every victory and setback before us.” Advent calls us to "watch," to be "alert", to be mindful of the presence of God all around us, in the love of family and friends & even strangers, in the best and worst of times, and to find the true meaning and purpose of our lives in moments of compassion, forgiveness and generosity that we extend to ourselves and each other. Amen.
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