Awake

Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. -Matthew 25:13

When I hear the words “Keep awake” in the readings, I know that Advent is around the corner. But this has been such a very odd year that I find myself surprised that a new church year is already almost upon us. At the same time, I feel like it’s been eons since last Advent. Not only has it been an odd year, the experience of time itself has become odd.

Maybe you, like me, are feeling a certain numbness as the pandemic drags on and on. It feels like we’re just coping day to day, unable to plan ahead, not sure when things will change and looking toward the winter months with some trepidation. Will it be a whole winter of isolation? Will the cold weather trap us inside? Will our ‘schedules’ ever get back to normal?

So the words “Keep awake” seem both more challenging and more important somehow as Advent approaches. We know that each day is still the day that the Lord has made and we are called to rejoice and be glad in it. We know we’re called to follow Christ in whatever form that takes each day with gratitude and love. We know we’re called to keep awake!

But right now, with our usual lively lives put on hold, it’s harder to keep awake. It’s much easier to binge on Netflix or to endlessly “doomscroll” our social media feeds or escape into novels or just sleep more and more like hibernating bears. We’re aware that succumbing to numbness cuts us off from taking care of ourselves, growing closer to God and serving our loved ones and neighbors when they might need our active attention most. The opposite of this could be creativity. Imagination. Openness. Prayer. Rest. Connection. Advent will ask us soon enough whether we’re remaining open to these good things or if we’re just pushing the snooze button.

As I write this blog, tomorrow is the election, and who knows what the rest of this week will bring. I kind of want to put my head under a pillow until it’s all over! But instead, I’m praying to stay awake to the movement of the Spirit in the events ahead. i pray we can face this week with love, continuing to seek ways to follow Christ in his reconciling ministry, no matter what life looks like later this week and into the long winter.

It strikes me that a prayer we were using often at the beginning of the pandemic is quite relevant to us again now as the virus begins to spread and political tensions rise:

This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring
forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I
am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still,
help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it
patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly.
Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit
of Jesus. Amen.

This Sunday’s readings are HERE. Ordinary time offers many readings to contemplate each Sunday. Track 1 will lead you through certain Old Testament books week by week more in depth. Track 2 provides an Old Testament text that is meant to compliment the Gospel of the week.