We live off a busy road where the traffic issues seem to be increasing by the day. As I was driving on one particularly busy stretch of this road earlier this week, I noticed a table set up very near the road in the grass. And on the table is a purple tablecloth, a wreath, and five Advent candles.
For a long time the house this driveway leads up to was a mystery to us. We noticed it being built a few years ago. It’s large and well-kept but seems a bit oddly placed in the midst of several other homes. It’s a sunny yellow color with a well-tended garden and a large, neat grouping of bird-feeders. At first we thought it might be a group home or a small assisted living. But the mystery was solved one day when the Spouse saw a nun walking to the mailbox. It must be a monastery or an abbey of some sort. And the placement of a roadside Advent table confirms our theory.
My first thought when I saw the table was, “That’s going to get run over by someone in no time. Possibly by me if I don’t slow down around this curve… ” But the more I think about it, I’m not sure there could be a better spot for them to place this physical reminder of the spiritual significance of this busy season. They’ve planted it, flimsy as it may be, smack in the center of the suburban whirlwind. We may be speeding by multiple times a day—to and from work, to and from shops and restaurants, to and from dance lessons and basketball practice, to and from holiday parties and events—giving plenty of thought to Christmas, but little thought to Advent and what it means. But as that tablecloth flaps in the breeze while cars whiz by, we catch a glimpse of the only true gift this season offers us in perfect simplicity.
Come, thou long expected Jesus
Born to set thy people free.
I may be speeding down that road several times between now and the 25th, but I don’t want to be one who literally, or even figuratively, runs over the table.
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in thee.
Speaking of rest… one of our girls is not getting enough of it lately. She is having a lot of trouble going to sleep at night, and I’m not patient with her plight. She is at that tender age where she wants to soak up every ounce of Christmas magic, but her body and brain can’t handle the overstimulation. I think we’ve all been there.
So much to see, so much to taste, so much to do, so little time.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art.
That same child who is having trouble sleeping is wavering between belief and disbelief in Santa and his elves. I have never been convinced that the secular traditions are altogether wrong or harmful. In so many ways I think a child who hopes in goodness and generosity is symbolic of a world who hopes for the same. My prayer is that in due time she will realize the only one who can fulfill our great hope for peace and joy and satisfy our deepest longing for a world made right, is Christ himself. I have to continuously remind myself of this truth.
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
I don’t know if the little Advent table down the road will survive the season. I don’t know if I’m doing my girls a disservice by mixing Santa, elves on shelves, and inflatable snowmen in with the celebration of Jesus’s birth. I don’t know what Christmas is supposed to look like or feel like for you, or me, or anyone else. But I do know that God placed himself into the scene hundreds of years ago in an unexpected way to save weary people. And I think He’s still in the business of showing up in unexpected places for that same purpose today.
Born thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now thy gracious kingdom bring.
Let it be so.
And let it be noted that the child who is anxious at night and moody by day is always able to put a smile on my face with her tact. I will close with this excerpt from the birthday card she made for me last weekend. This will join the one she wrote to the Spouse a few weeks ago as another keepsake.
Thank goodness I don’t have any children in “collage” yet, AND there are still some people walking the earth who are older than me. I love her, even if she does keep us up late, late at night.
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