HIGH TIME

In the readings of the second Sunday of Advent (B)
there is much talk of the plans God has for a future time.
The words used are those of the Prophets long ago.

It may be "High Time"
we learned to see the plans and promises of God
expressed, not only in the lovely poetic phrases
of the ancient Prophets
but also in the often confused utterances
that come from out of our times,
our own lives.

TIME was there at our beginning; had it not been we would not have been, ever! Without the gift of TIME our existence is unthinkable. Without the gift of TIME, no Register or Record book, and no family photo album would ever have revealed the slightest trace of us. If we were to exist then we needed TIME to be there before we even arrived.

Saying all of which you may feel is a waste of time, for isn't it painfully obvious? Well, yes and no. TIME is the umbilical cord between creature and creator; obvious when you think about it, but when do we do that? THINK about it, I mean. Hardly ever, which is why Advent is so handy.

If we give Advent our best attention entirely for its own sake, and not just like a film trailer for the main event on December 25th, the roots of the season will go deeper inside us and help us ENGAGE with our real selves.

Advent may find us thinking of things of the past, but we can go one better. We can think of the promise of TIME being fulfilled in our own lives now.

The trouble is our lives seem too ordinary. How often do we feel like describing our Mondays and Tuesdays in the lovely images the prophets use. Try picturing your own day-to-day life and then try declaring over it, "it shall come to pass." Try imagining something of great worth emerging from within your own time-frame, something of a quite different order than a mere stroke of good fortune like winning the lottery. The TIME you were given when you arrived in this world holds just such a promise, why not dare to imagine it this Advent?

It's like that little boy isn't it? The one who was on his way to school and noticed a man with an iron chisel chipping away at a block of stone. He passed by thinking what a hard, boring way of spending the day. Every day he passed and every day the man was there chipping little pieces from the great hard stone. Then one day when the boy reached the spot where the man was, he noticed that the block of stone was now the statue of a horse. "Mister", the boy asked, " how did you know there was a horse in there?

Please pay attention to your life, be patient with it; it takes time, and it is the only time you've got.

Please pay attention to your life, be patient with it; it takes time.