Waiting With The Lights On

It always impresses me at this time of year--at the darkest time of year when night arrives before the afternoon is even finished--that people through the ages have realized a need to light the night.  As communities add warmth and life to the bleak, cold darkness, it's a warmth quite unlike that of a summer night.  It's an undoing of winter, of night itself.  And it's a coming together to bring that about.

Advent, they say, is a type of waiting, the best kind, one with hope.  Putting the words waiting and hope in the same breath conjures the image of "waiting with the lights on".  Imagine it's late at night.  You notice through the front window of a home a lady who appears to be waiting, with the lights on.  It means she expects, knows that her welcomed guest will soon arrive.  Otherwise the lights would be off and she would have gone to bed.  

Jesus we light this tree / this candle / this room / this yard.  It's our waiting with the lights on.  After all, we've received a text from you letting us know you're on your way right now and that we'll see you soon.  Amen

Jonathan