coming up next...

So we're in Advent. Most people skip over Advent because the shops are playing Christmas music and the ornaments are hung on the trees and the candles are out and lighted reindeers are faux-grazing on the lawns. Most people skip over the waiting part because we hate it. And most people hate waiting because we associate waiting with things like:

standing in line at the post office
waiting at the dentist's office
waiting in the ER
waiting in labor
waiting at the DMV
who will win Dancing with the Stars
who will win American Idol
Who will win ANTM
waiting for election results

Much of the time we dislike waiting and want to avoid waiting because of what we anticipate at the end of the wait: horrible teeth pulling, stomach ulcers, disgruntled overworked postal workers, evil underpaid DMV employees, endless presidencies with war-riddled legacies, etc.

And sometimes, we dislike waiting because we hate the mystery, the unknown, the variables. We read our horoscopes, we get our palms read, and we get our fortunes told. We get sonograms and ultrasounds to see if babies are boys or girls. We write our wills in order to mark out the exact details of our dying and death. We try, as much as we can, to name all the unknowns, but sometimes we can't do it all. We can't find out everything. So we hate waiting.

It's the anticipation, really, that drives most of us crazy. I for one have to peek at the last page of the book I'm reading -- if only to read the last sentence. I also have to, must, must, must, watch the clips at the end of House that tell me what's going to happen on the next episode. I can't wait. It's only 7 days, but the anticipation drives me insane.

As for Advent and Christmas...

How are we dealing with our waiting in this season of Advent? Can we wait long enough for the answer to the question "what's next"? What is our attitude reflecting during this period of waiting? How do we "live into" this time of mystery and anticipation?

And, what if we did not know how "Christmas" would turn out? What if the "end result" was not a pretty little nativity scene? What if it is much more ominous, cold, harsh, realistic? What if we didn't know what was coming up next? What would we be waiting for?