What Am I Waiting For Today?

A Meditation for Advent

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
     more than those who watch for the morning,
     more than those who watch for the morning. 

                           —Psalm 130: 5-6

What am I waiting for today?

To be reborn myself, of course. As always.

To emerge from this brittle cocoon of impatience and doubt. To open new wings and fly. To live purposefully, with faith.

I’m not the only one waiting for this miracle. When I look around me, in my home, community, country, and world, it’s like looking into a great mirror, my own longings reflected back to me, my own impatience, doubts, and fears magnified to a sometimes-frightening degree. At times, the world today reminds me of an egg, with its brittle shell cracking. Cracking because it is brittle, and also because there’s something inside. Something alive, strong, and new, battering its way out.

If so, then we’re living in a new Advent. Traditionally in the Christian church calendar, Advent is a period of inward reflection during the final weeks of Mary’s pregnancy. It’s a time for space to open up in expectant hearts – new, empty space – ready to be filled.

During these troubled days, it helps me to remember that the time of waiting in pregnancy does much more than make space for the new thing. The time of waiting is also the time of gestation. In making space for new light, I’m also taking part in its creation.

Excerpted from chapter 1, “Season of Waiting,” in Sacred Attention: A Spiritual Practice for Finding God in the Moment, by Margaret D. McGee (SkyLight Paths Publishing).