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Arrivals - How we respond to the timing of arrivals is up to us.
Airports are a relatively recent location for arrivals, since terminals for ships, trains, and busses had listed arrivals for many years before air travel became common. By now, we might have become so accustomed to comings at expected times that we become frustrated when a plane is delayed, or someone comes late to a meeting. Arrivals for us are almost always in terms of specific minutes, and are only rarely open to occurrences within days, weeks, or even months. Imagine, if you can, those who looked for the arrival of the One who was spoken of in the Hebrew prophecies, when there were no clocks or precise measures of time. Becoming frustrated would have been as useless then as it is for us now, who expect almost all arrivals to be at a designated time.
Unlike frustration which exhibits a flawed belief that things should take place when we want rather than whenever they do happen, anticipation is a much more pleasing movement. Most of us have learned from experience to anticipate with joy the arrival of persons we love, even when the timing is not as we had hoped or wanted. This is the proper attitude for the Liturgical season of Advent, the approximately 4 weeks prior to the celebration of Christ’s birth at “Christ Mass,” which has been abbreviated to “Christmas.”
Children are often encouraged to anticipate the arrival of the many family, social, and faith aspects of Christmas, and they can become somewhat impatient. However, they usually retain their positive hopefulness of good things that are to come. We cannot go back to being children, but we have the capability of choosing an attitude of hope and expectation of future good. Sometimes we can do this on our own, while at other times, especially when we find it difficult to imagine how things can turn out for the better, we manage quite well by turning directly to the One whose arrival is celebrated at Christmas.
We might anticipate with pleasure, usually for only a short time, our birthday and anniversary celebrations and those of relatives and friends. These, like Christmas, occur on specific dates. The season of Advent is much longer, not primarily because the birth of Jesus is by comparison of far greater significance than our annual events, but to encourage and allow for much more than a birthday celebration. The season is presented as a series of gifts that keep on giving, as we reflect on some of the mysteries of God’s faithful and abiding love for us in fulfilling old promises and initiating new ways of relating with us in our present circumstances.
Enjoy the season of Advent, one day at a time, and savor the mysteries of faith that become meaningful and supportive as we reflect on them.
Last Updated 11/30/2024