For those who suffer, sometimes it is hard to not get caught up in impatience, bitterness and dread. Some come through the other side of suffering like pure silver, much more beautiful because of it. For those who don't, though, they find they are irritable, and rather than being a better person with more understanding and compassion, their emotions are cold and unresponsive with little ability to respond to others, unable to love anymore. They actually shrink from those who really do care for them.
Even in nature: flowers, trees, and animals need a period of gestation, the waiting-time everything needs in order to bear fruit in life. As we wait for Christmas, Advent is a season of gestastion, a spiritual preparation for Christmas.
What do each of us do, with whatever suffering we may be encountering, with this time before Christmas, this time of Advent? Our waiting during Advent can certainly be a time of growth as well as hiding and darkness. Each of us must be patient, not only with the days to come but in due time all the tensions of this season can give way to a splendid peace. For Christians, of course, this is the time of the birth of the Christ child but each one of us is called to "stick around long enough to enjoy the miracle". We wait, we prepare, we anticipate! May God's peace be with each of us.
