We had a yard sale last weekend. [A note to friends up north: Yes, in South Texas, it does make sense to have a yard sale in December; we had partly sunny skies, with temperature in the mid-70s.]
We had a yard sale last weekend. It was a good experience. We made some money. We enjoyed chatting with the browsers and buyers who stopped by. More importantly, we cleaned out our closets and cupboards; we got rid of things we no longer use. We made space.
We had a yard sale during Advent. We made space. Somehow it seems fitting. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” Advent is a season for making space. As the carol sings, “Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.” But there must be space for Christ to enter.
The day after our yard sale, we heard Bishop Mulvey make the distinction between the desert of distractions and the desert of discovery. He is right. There is often an arid, aching emptiness within our hectic schedules. We become too busy to delve deep into our lives, to sit still, to experience and explore silence, to touch the hem of mystery, to enter the silent desert of discovery.
How do you experience Advent? Is it a time of an unending, never-completed To Do list? Or a time of making space, making space for God’s surprising arrival? Along with Bishop Mulvey, I encourage you to turn away from the noisy, but empty, desert of distractions to seek instead the quiet, rich desert of discovery.
--by Bill
