 “Silencio”, M. Chirosa rscj What a magnificent hymn we heard at the beginning of the service this evening…
For you, O Lord, my soul in stillness waits.
Truly, my hope is in you.
It expresses the perfect attitude for the season of advent…
…the perfect posture of silence, expectation, longing, waiting…
It suggests we are attentive for the stirrings of new life,
watchful for the coming of God with us,
hopeful that the peace which surpasses all understanding
is within our reach.
And even the musical tune is minor, quiet, and reflective
For you O lord, my soul in stillness waits
But maybe you had the same thought as I did…
How I wish it were true!
How I wish these pre-Christmas days were filled with stillness. But everything in the season and everything in my life seems to militate against it:
the to-do lists
the cards to be written
the gifts to be bought or, sometimes, recycled
the menus
the shopping
the baking
the entertaining
the wrapping and tying and shipping
the decorations, especially the tree, the challenge of type, size,
and trimmings large enough to unravel the best relationships
the reservations and travel planning or, the preparation
for house guests
the fiscal year-end decisions
the new year beginning resolutions
the seemingly endless errands
I visited my sister Patricia and her family in Minneapolis over this past weekend. I was a surprise guest on her husband’s 60th birthday and, coincidentally, I had the delight of seeing my nephew play the role of Jesus in Godspell. As my sister scooped me up at the airport she announced that we had to make seven stops before the actual surprise dinner…and she had worked out a precise timetable to fit it all in. After the fourth stop – I am not making this up – we were eleven minutes ahead of schedule…Would I like a cup of coffee…
Is your life like that before Christmas?
Where is stillness to be found?
I have come to believe that stillness is a choice we make. Advent stillness has less to do with external circumstances over which we have little control and more to do with an internal attentiveness even in the midst of many “to-do’s”. Stillness has less to do with inactivity and more to do with a purposeful heart, no matter the activity. Stillness is a deeply contemplative spirit in face of the frazzled cashier, the incompetent driver, the tired and whiny child, the variety of opinions about the location and trimming of the tree.
Stillness is at once alert, expectant, diligent, quiet and patient. These are the qualities with which Mother Janet Erskine Stuart described the time of advent and, one hundred years later, they still apply. In the midst of an over-busy season it is possible to be still. A long check-out line or dense traffic provide a brief respite for communing with God; writing a card or wrapping a gift may be opportunities to remember the reason for this season. Images of a world at war on TV or in the newspaper may fuel our longing for the Prince of Peace. The playing of Carols, the ringing of bells, the gatherings of friends, this celebration of lessons and carols – we can use it all to place us more deeply in the Heart of God, more attentive to God’s greatest gift to us in Jesus, more open to God’s desires for our needy world, more faith-filled and hopeful as we move through these Advent days.
For you, O God, our souls in stillness wait. Truly our hope is in you.
Kathleen Hughes rscj
Province of the United States Lessons and Carols
University of San Diego, California
December 9, 2004
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