I don’t think she was paying attention.
I was driving in the left hand lane on Eighth Street when I noticed a Mac bus
stopped ahead of me in the right hand lane, with its lights flashing. Also on
my right was an older woman cruising along in a red sedan, almost in my blind
spot. When she failed to speed up and pull ahead into my lane to avoid the bus,
I assumed she’d slow down and slip to the left behind me. As I passed
the bus I heard a brief squeal of brakes and that thud only cars make on impact,
and I realized she had rear-ended the bus. She must not have been paying attention,
I thought. There are lots of distractions on Eighth Street.
Now, those distractions aren’t confined to Eight Street. Some of those
distractions are in our heads, daydreams of better times or places where we’d
rather be. Some of those distractions are in our lives, the lure of buying stuff
to fill our closets because that’s easier than filling the holes that
ache in our hearts. Some of those distractions are the demands of our children
for toys they soon relegate to closets, while soldiers fight for their right
to own junk they refuse to share, and children starve in far off lands. Most
of those distractions are the fruit of our own labor, as we set our alarms to
get in line early enough for those black Friday bargains we just can’t
live without. Here it is December, and we’re at risk of being so distracted
that we crash into Christmas Day without even seeing the God who stands there
right in front of us, yearning to birth in us the peace we seek so desperately
to buy.
To help ward off distractions, we offer you the season of Advent. It comes from
the Latin word for coming or arrival, and relates now to the four Sundays leading
to Christmas. In Advent we will baptize a child and prepare to celebrate the
birth of our savior. In Advent our lessons will remind us of the Hebrew longing
for a messiah, John the Baptist’s longing for repentance, and our longing
for our Savior’s return. In Advent our children will sing us a sermon
about the birth of our Lord, and we will make luminaries to light the way to
his Christmas Eve services of carols, Communion and candlelight. In Advent we
will put away the things that distract us from the here and now, and center
into a holy present where God dwells with us.
Put away distractions, my friends. Join us in Advent, and meet the God who pays
so much attention to you, that he seeks to be born into your life!
Pastor Jim
There will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars,
and on earth distress among nations, confused by the roaring of the sea and
the waves... when you see these things taking place
you know that the kingdom of God is near. Luke 21:25,31
From the Shepherd's Song Newsletter -- December 2006
Copyright 2006 by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
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E-mail your comments and questions to Pastor Jim in care of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at gslc@sirus.com.