What a Life! for December 13-20, 2006

A Midwestern town was experiencing a bad drought. Crops were dying, and the livelihood of the farm town was threatened. A local pastor decided to hold a prayer service and asked all the townsfolk to come. He instructed them to bring with them symbols of their faith that God would deliver them from the drought.

People showed up with rosaries, religious statues, prayer books, Bibles, and crucifixes. All came forward, shared their symbols and prayed for God to send rain. Finally, only a small girl was left. Without any hesitation, she came to the front and slowly opened her symbol of faith n a brightly colored umbrella. She knew what it truly meant to expect something from God!

Expectation is also an Advent theme. Advent echoes that part of the biblical story that preceded Jesus’ birth, when people of faith waited with expectation for God to send a Messiah to save them. Advent is also a time to refresh and renew our Christ-centered expectations. What do we expect of God today and how do our expectations of God’s action impact our lives?

Religion for many people is something we do. We do not see religion as a relationship with God. We do not expect God to work in our lives in a special way.

All we anticipate in this holiday season are cards and gifts, parties and visitors, extra traffic and longer lines in the stores. During this busy time of year, we do not expect too much from God.

Advent should be an active, responsive, dynamic time of preparing the way of the Lord by participating now in the life of the world to come. You want everlasting life? Then choose it by protecting life wherever it is threatened: in the womb, in the jail cell, in the hospitals, in countries with unstable governments, and on the poor side of town in our own land.

You want God’s mercy on the last day? Then show mercy to others now: to loved ones who have wronged you, to those whom we are taught to regard as enemies, to strangers in need of your assistance both material and political. You want to rest in peace? Then be a peacemaker here: stop using violent language, do not seek vengeance at the first sign of aggression by others, give up the paranoia that regards others with suspicion and takes easy offense.

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus warns us that we should not become drowsy from the anxieties of daily life. Sadly, most of us cannot shake away our cares. In the United States, 18 percent of the adult population suffers from an anxiety disorder, and all adults have experienced some recurring sense of anxiousness. All these worries and frets keep us from focusing on the positive, hopeful outcomes. We are so busy worrying about what could go wrong that we lose sight of what is going right.

Here are some tips for leading a less anxious life:

1. Enjoy the moment. God is not in the past or the future. God is only in the present.

2. Do not make decisions out of fear. Always decide what is right.

3. Give others the benefit of the doubt; avoid judgments and blame.

4. Do not overanalyze yourself or others. We can become too wrapped up in ourselves.

5. Do not start fights; work on ending those in progress.

6. When worries set in, pray.

7. Be grateful. Look at what you have, instead of focusing on what you don’t have.

8. Let a smile be your usual facial expression.

9. Allow life to unfold with little interference. Stop trying to control everything.

And most importantly, 10. Always follow the way of love.