An Advent writing project would be the most unexpected gesture a
pastor could take on – at least this pastor. I’ve never been good at engaging
an entire month of writing, but, hey, Advent doesn’t last all month, so maybe I
can see it through.
In any case, the Advent word calendar provides prompts for 24 days
that happen to be, this year, the first 24 days of December. And, hey, the
first word is unexpected. No, really, it’s literally the word “unexpected.”
That seems like a good word to start with for me this year. Or, is
it a word to end with. The thing about Advent is that while it begins the
Christian calendar it falls at the end of the secular calendar that most of us
in the West mark our time and lives by.
The year coming to a close has been marked by the unexpected for me
though none of it has been particularly surprising. Loss can be that way. For
instance, my mom died this year. While it was not surprising for a 91-year-old
to die, I certainly didn’t expect it to happen when it did. Mom died at the end
of July. We’d just visited her over the 4th of July holiday. While
she was surely frail, she was also full of life and happy to join us for
several meals out and about and to accompany us on a trip to the art museum in
her hometown. So her death was unexpected.
I also changed jobs the fall after more than 16 years serving one
congregation. Again, after being in the same job for that long a change is not
particularly surprising, but when 2019 began I certainly did not expect to be
serving the congregation at Burke Presbyterian when Advent rolled around. But
there I am.
I also didn’t expect to become a grandfather this year, though,
again, with married children of child-bearing years it was not a shocking
announcement to receive last winter. OK, we were definitely surprised at the
moment when the kids shared the news, but upon an evening’s reflection we did
pretty much conclude, “well, that was unexpected … but not particularly surprising.”
The unexpected comes in all kinds of disguises. Sometimes it brings
a great deal of joy, and other times it’s marked by sadness. Whether in joy or
in sadness, however, the real mark of the truly unexpected is that is brings
with it a rupture in time, in life as you have come to know it.
Life after the death of one’s parents is simply different than life
before. Life in a new job is different, no matter how similar the work. Life as
a grandparent is different.
As Advent begins I don’t have any particular expectations, but I’ll
walk into the season open to the unexpected in whatever guise it appears.
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