In life, we need to prepare for anything that is important. Advent is no different.
Last week, the first Sunday of Advent, our Gospel told us about scary, ominous things. Signs in the skies. Roaring of thunder. Perplexity of nations. Surreal. Almost so surreal that we could miss the most important message, which was “beware that your hearts don’t become weighed down from the anxieties of daily life”.
Do the anxieties of daily life weigh you down? Of course they do. We get tense, stressed. Especially with all that is going on in our world. And especially at this time of year. Not at our best, are we?
Now in this Sunday’s Gospel, we have John the Baptist telling us to repent. To turn back towards God . Every journey towards something is a journey away from something else. Turning back towards God means turning away from something else – and if we take last Sunday’s Gospel message to heart, it means that we should turn away from the things that weigh down our hearts with anxieties. Why? because things that weigh down our hearts with anxieties prevent us from experiencing Joy and Happiness.
Now, you may already know what it is that brings you Joy, what it is that brings you Happiness. But I suspect, with all the hustle and bustle of our lives, all of the things we need to do to get ready for Christmas, that we spend very little time actually contemplating what it is that truly brings us happiness, what it is that truly brings us joy.
So maybe, while you are busy getting gifts and preparing for encounters for others, you can take time to prepare a gift for yourself. Take some quiet time alone each day this Advent to reflect on what it is that truly brings you happiness…. that truly brings you joy.
Perhaps that joy is in being with family and friends. Perhaps that joy is in just spending time in person with your children and grandchildren. Perhaps it is to hold the latest baby niece or nephew in your arms and not just see them on a computer screen.
Or maybe your joy is a bit bigger than that …..Perhaps your joy comes from helping others meet their basic needs by gifts of food, and shelter, and most importantly, hope. Perhaps your joy comes from helping others at a deeper level.… by being a shoulder for them to cry on, and ear to listen, a heart to care. By being a person who doesn’t judge others, but just stands together with them in their pain.
Or maybe your joy is bigger still …..Perhaps your Joy is in knowing that you are loved by the very creator of the Cosmos. Perhaps your Joy is in knowing that no matter how much you mess up, no matter how often you fail to be all that you were created to be, that your God still loves you, will always love you. Perhaps your Joy is in knowing that God is not billions of light years away, but is truly, really, present within you and around you.
Your list will be yours alone. But I suspect that after the challenges of 2020 and 2021, we all will agree that each encounter with family this Christmas, each encounter with people we love and care about, each moment we get to talk and laugh and cry together, each of these encounters as friends and family are the most precious gifts we can give to each other.
So, between now and Christmas Day, why not go to bed each night – not with a tasklist for the next day, nor with a wishlist of gifts to find under the tree, not with a deep seated anxiety about events in the world over which we have little or no control; but rather, go to bed each night with a prayer for openness of heart that you may discover what brings you true happiness. That you may discover what brings you true joy. And in doing so, you will find that you will not be weighed down as much by the anxieties of daily life.
Give yourself the gift of knowing where your true joy and happiness is. You deserve it.