The Christmas season evokes a feeling that all is right in the world. Secular and spiritual messages alike sing of peace on earth, either with chestnuts roasting or with cattle lowing. It is easy for some to turn up the radio and sing along, but for others, the assertion that “all is calm, all is bright” seems far from their experience. Christmas time does not alleviate the pangs of unfulfilled desires and broken hearts.

For the person coming into advent with a heart that is reluctant to join in the festivities, there is a deep truth to be experienced. Peace on earth is a story in progress. It is an ‘already and not yet’ truth. We still long for Shalom. So much about faith is holding His promises close and desperately waiting for their fulfillment. After all, faith is only necessary because we do not see yet.

Wherever you are, lean into the tension between all that the birth of Christ promises and the current broken condition of the world. Even when Christ arrived, he came not as a king, but as a baby. He had a quiet beginning. Like seeds lying dormant under a blanket of snow, Jesus’ ministry appeared weak and powerless. God’s pattern has forever been bringing forth life from death.

Advent is poignantly sampled in heartbreak, loneliness and silence. Let the longing for a savior and all that he brings build up inside your heart. If it is painful how much you want Christ to come and make all things new, you might be getting advent right.

We bless the seeds under the snow
We bless the patience take it slow...
Be Thou my vision until I see
And bless the space that's in between

- Sandra McCracken, The Space In Between