“Next” is the enemy of the “Last”
My record for least amount of showers in a month is one. I was on a road trip in the west, camping in the National Parks to celebrate finishing my Master’s program with a good friend. Outside of a glacial lake, there weren’t many opportunities for bathing, and we got used to our smell. I, unfortunately, got used to the National Parks too. As the trip went on, I noticed a frustrating trend. Within a day of visiting a new park, I’d be ready for the next one. This trend continued for each park, and I realized that I didn’t know how to enjoy. But why?
I would argue it is because I don’t know how to wait. Like many moderns, I need things now. The idea of waiting is an annoyance, an inconvenience. Ironically, the minute I get something, I’m unable to enjoy it for more than a moment. Each National Park quickly became stale, not because there wasn’t beauty, but because I don’t know how to sit in beauty’s presence. I cannot be still because I always look for what’s next.
We see this most clearly in this season of Advent. For our culture, Advent and Christmas are synonymous. We want them to be. Our culture almost needs them to be. Why would you have a season of waiting when you can have Christmas any time? Granted, the minute December 26th comes around, we jettison it for the next thing. Twelve days of Christmas is too many! I need the next thing!
Why do we do this? I think it is because if we sit and wait, we are confronted with some terrifying truths. One being, there is an end. I am not permanent. At some point, there will be no “next”. Chasing the “next” tricks me into thinking that there will always be a next thing. Sitting and waiting makes me confront the fact that “this too will pass” - including myself. Advent asks us to wait, not only for Christmas, but also for Jesus’ Second Coming. Heaven is a banquet, a celebration that will last for eternity. When it comes, there will be no “next thing”. It is the Last. Thus, Advent, done correctly, trains us to sit and be still with God. Not to rush off, chasing the wind.
I encourage you, this Advent, to take time to sit and wait with the Lord. Come to Holy Hour on Tuesday nights. Learn to stay in one place and ignore the “next”, if for an hour. At the end of our lives, we will all be given the opportunity to stay with our Lord or move onto the next thing. May this Advent, we learn how to be present with Him now.
Lukas Steffensmeier, Director of Religious Education