Calloused Knees

Yes, in less than a week Christmas will be here.  Friends and family alike seem to have the same refrain of, "Are you ready?" Some are ready, some not...some like me are still in the process! This has begged a bigger consideration for some, as well as for me, since this time is also Advent.  Christians prepare for the coming of Christ, which Christmas is all about. 

When Advent began I had lofty plans of getting "callouses" on my knees but for reasons beyond my control, I "flunked" Advent the first day!  My expectations were on the religious side and as simple as it seemed to me, didn't work! 

Then  I saw something that tripped my trigger.  It was a daily calendar of small, yet significant things I could do each day.  These suggestions caught my attention because the word "Awake" is a word that is found in music and liturgy at this time of year.  I could do small things like holding the door for someone, letting a person go ahead of me in the grocery line, or even being aware of smiling kindly at someone.  Being conscious, or "awake" and aware is giving Advent a new energy for me this year. I no longer feel like I have flunked Advent!

So, I know this little perspective may have been more useful to some of my readers a few weeks ago but it's never too late to "prepare ye the way" for this wonderful day next week.  It's not so much about just God taking the form of man as a newborn but how do each of us prepare for God to be born in us, for that new life to come alive in us.

Courtesy of Pixabay

It's amazing that the thought of "calloused knees" no longer gets my attention these days.  Consciously offering to hold the door open and being generous and complimentary to the waitress takes on new meaning.  Now I truly can say, "Joy to the World, the Lord is Come!"