Sr. Doreen, SSJD
God spoke and said, ‘ ask for a sign from your God’ … (and the response was, oh no we can’t do that …) ‘God will give you a sign anyway’. Watch for this, watch for Immanuel – God with us. (Isaiah 7) Message translation
I saw a new heaven and a new earth … I heard a voice from heaven – Look! Look! God has moved into the neighbourhood, making a home with us … (Revelation 21) Message Translation
How often have I actually dared to asked God for a sign – and how often I have hesitated and not asked God for a sign … and yet indeed deep within myself, even in the midst of much that is unknown in life, I hear the words “Look! Look! I am with you!”
Traveling the Advent highway called “in Between” brings us to a place where we can view life’s incompletions – that place of being in-between – in a context of hope and anticipation.
Sometimes referred to as liminal time it refers to a transitional period “between” one phase of life and the next, characterized by feelings of uncertainty, waiting, and disorientation, as the old path has disappeared and the new one is not yet clear. This “threshold” period is also seen as a time of personal growth and transformation where we are given the opportunity to reflect on our identity, on who we really are and what we truly want. It forces us out of ‘business as usual’ to learn something new and essential. It allows for deep reflection on who we are, what is important to us, and what we want to become.
We want a sign, and God wants to make something new! And on the In-Between Highway on our Advent journey we are invited on a personal inner journey down unwanted paths, challenging our self-imposed boundaries and false securities. It is a time when we need courage and commitment to truth about ourselves. It is a time when I find it so important to remember to hear God’s words “Look! Look! I am with you.” This Advent Highway In-Between – where we can view life’s incompletion – though surrounded by uncertainty and disorientation, is not to be feared, but to be seen as an opportunity for new life and perspective. “Look! Look! I am with you.” I am certain the God doesn’t waste these periods of wandering or waiting in the unknown times of our lives. As we remember and look back on our lives and our experiences, we can see that they have been used to sharpen our skills, build empathy, and strengthen us. We know how challenging having patience and making choices were in these times, and how they fed our hope even when we could find no reason to do so!
I am reminded of part of a wonderful story in a book called “Hope For The Flowers” written by Trina Paulus: “Once upon a time a tiny striped caterpillar, called Stripe, burst from the egg which had been home for so long. “Hello world” he said. “It is sure bright out here in the sun.” “I’m hungry,” he thought and straightway began to eat the leaf he was born on. And he ate another leaf … and another … and another. And got bigger … and bigger, and bigger … Until one day he stopped eating and thought, “There must be more to life than just eating and getting bigger. It’s getting quite dull.” So, Stripe crawled down from the friendly tree which had shaded and fed him. He was seeking more. There were all sorts of new things to find. Grass and dirt and holes and tiny bugs – each fascinated him. But nothing satisfied him.”
The story goes on with Stripe following the crowd, doing what they are doing without really understanding what it all means. And still he is not satisfied and goes from one thing to another in search of what it means to be who he is. And he sees that he has joined millions of caterpillars climbing not knowing where to nowhere and he knows that something is wrong on his journey to discover who he is but … what else is there?
Joan Chittister writes in her book For Everything A Season: “In too many instances, we are really more likely to be on our way to somewhere else than present to the present. … We live with one foot in tomorrow at all times. We plan for tomorrow and prepare for tomorrow and fear for tomorrow and wait for tomorrow with distracting fitfulness. … But life is every grain of sand in the hourglass. And it is running. And once run it is gone forever.” This In-Between highway of Advent is so important – this liminal time, this pause between what has been and what is to come, between who I am and who I am to become. There are opportunities here that we might but should not miss!
In the book Hope For the Flowers, a good example this Advent of in-between highway, time is called: “It’s an in-between house where change takes place. Making a cocoon is a big step since you can never return to caterpillar life. During the change it will seem to you or to anyone who might peek that nothing is happening – but the butterfly is already becoming. It just takes time. That’s some encouragement that I am on the right track. If I have inside me the stuff to make cocoons – maybe the stuff of butterflies is there too. And there’s something else! Once you are a butterfly, you can really love – the kind of love that makes new life. but you have to let go of everything”
On the Advent In-between highway, it is our small actions requiring patience and hope that can transform darkness into light and move us beyond surface-level living to becoming the person that we are truly meant be. It is here that we discover that not everything started needs to be brought to completion, or at least not to completion right now. There is about this highway the discovery of the truth in paradox- of both yet to come and already here. We need to remind ourselves that God says “Look! I am making all things new.” We may live with unresolved issues in the meantime but by God’s grace, incompletions are not the end of our story! Our Advent In-between Highway is a time to ponder these things.
How might Advent be your season to find resolutions – to move from a standstill in some issues?
What incompleteness do you see in your own life?
In what ways might your incompletions be a gift from God? What might they be teaching you?