Max, waiting. Photo by Mike Wisner

It’s seems as though we’re always waiting. We wait for something to

• Begin – Vacation starts the beginning of next month.
• End – My friend finishes up her chemo in two weeks.
• Start – Today is day one of a class that will help jumpstart a new career.
• Finish – Is that turkey still not done?
• Come back as positive – Congratulations! You’re pregnant.
• Come back as negative – The tumor is benign.
• Arrive – My dog watches patiently for UPS to show up with his Amazon package.
• Leave – Will this rain never go away?
• Be asked – Will you marry me?
• Be answered – Yes!

Waiting. And we experience varying emotions with each type, such as: Excitement over an upcoming event / Dread over a dental appointment / Anticipation about starting a new job / Resignation, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sometimes we feel mixed emotions as when people we love have come to the end of life and their final days are pain-filled ones. We don’t want to let go, and neither do we want them to suffer.

Advent has been called the Season of Waiting. The follow-up question is two-fold:

1) Who are we waiting for?

2) How we will spend our time waiting for them?

The worldly Advent calendar begins on December 1 and has children waiting for Santa and his ho-ho-whole bag stuffed with toys. Adults begin the mad rush of spending too much money while pushing through crowds, pawing over “stuff,” and sometimes ending up too exhausted to truly enjoy any part of the season.

Then after Christmas has come and gone, we celebrate New Year’s Day and give ourselves resolutions to make the next twelve months better than the prior twelve. Sound familiar?

The Christian concept of getting ready for Christmas is quite different. The church celebrates the new year first! That happens tomorrow, the fourth Sunday before Christmas. In the four weeks of waiting for our King, we’re encouraged in our daily life to slow down and carefully consider our faith’s relationship to not just the birth of Jesus, but to each other and all of creation.

Some of you reading this may be of other religions or have no formalized religion. Others may take their faith quite seriously, while others are more relaxed. But if you’re a regular reader of my art (or on your way to becoming one), then you know this statement is true: Wherever you are in life, whatever you believe, I care about you. Happy New Year.

Note: Each year I write a spiritual letter to tuck inside my Christmas cards. This post is my 2016 letter. So for those readers on my card list, lucky you! You get to read this message twice!

To my readers:  What is your favorite method of slowing down to enjoy the holiday season?