“(In Narnia), it was always winter and never
Christmas” (C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe).
We who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (As we do), the
Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but
the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express
(Romans 8: 23, 26).
“The
hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight” (from “O Little town
of Bethlehem”).
When I am weary and overwhelmed with
deadlines, I practice what I like to call “holy procrastination.” That is, I postpone absolutely everything in
my life that can be postponed, and focus on the immediate demands of each
day. Often this means focusing on
“urgent” things while letting “important” matters (
like, for example, investing in a friendship)
wait.
Why would I call this “holy procrastination?”
Well, think Shrek for a minute. Our God-created humanness is somewhat like
an onion that has layers. The outer
layers are where we take care of the gazillion details and demands of life that
each new day throws at us: sleeping,
eating, daily assignments and deadlines, the small (but still important!) talk
that greases the wheels of our social life.
As we peel back the outer layers and move on
in, we uncover our joys and sorrows, our doubt and our faith, our gratitudes
and our longings, “the hopes and fears of all the years,” as the old carol puts
it. Down beneath those outer layers we
find the inward groanings that contain the tangled messes that weave all over
and through our heart and soul. When we
get to the innermost layer of the onion, we find we’ve left behind the
territory where words are operative; deep down in that muddled spot, the Holy
Spirit kicks in “with groans that words cannot express.”
I’m thankful that the beginning of Advent
coincides with the end of our term. At
this time of year we easily live in “outer-onion-layer-survival-mode,” and our
worship and devotional life becomes the Lord’s double-edged sword that pierces
through our holy procrastinations, challenging us to surrender our verbal and
non-verbal groanings to Him.
That’s the blessing and call of Advent. That’s Christmas preparing to break into the
winter of our discontent. That’s
“slo-mo” ordering our “over-drive” to stop and listen to the whispers that
we’ve drowned out and ignored for too long.
Listen to the Spirit groaning within you:
O Lord, you
have searched me and you know me.
You
know when I sit and when I rise; you
perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord…
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord…
Search
me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139: 1-4, 23-24
