The blessed motorists who somehow chose in that
moment to listen to their God given intuition and the voices of their driving
angels, decided in that split second prior to what would have been a disastrous
lane change, to look twice and really
see the people in the cars directly next to them. Instead of crashing into
them, they waved at them as if to say “Oh I didn’t see you there and I almost
hit you, completely ruining your day, so sorry about that!” and we watched as
they waited for the others to pass before they proceeded into their lane and
continued on with their busy day.
My friend said to me after witnessing this, “Good
thing it’s Christmas and everyone is being nice to each other!”
We felt like we had witnessed a small miracle! No
one shook their fists at each other or used rude gestures and we saw no lips
mouthing angry words. Thank God for Christmas!
Now the inattention behind the wheel usually comes
from what I call during this time of year, “Christmas Head.” Everyone so caught
up in the rush and consumer buzz of the Christmas holiday they are paying no
attention to the present moment, whether its behind the wheel or in line
waiting at a retail store, their heads are missing what’s right in front of
them as their minds drift on to the next item on their “to do list.” So caught
up are we at times during the holidays that we completely miss the true
expectation of Christmas, the beautiful anticipation of the celebrated anniversary
of the birth of Jesus. The birth of our salvation, the birth of our eternal
grace from sin. I know that pointing this out is almost cliché but it is a
pitfall we face every day, not just at Advent.
We often become drowsy and complacent to the gift of
God’s love and salvation and the promise that this world is not our last stop.
We fall asleep to the needs of others and place ourselves, our endeavors,
before all else and instead of asking what can I do for God’s glory today? We
insist on comfort and instant gratification for ourselves. We are blind to the
elderly widow who lives next door and is alone day after day, or the co-worker
who hasn’t smiled in a week, that we don’t stop to ask why they aren’t smiling
or offer to sit down and share a cup of coffee with them. Most times, we don’t really see the people around us, like
missing that car in our blind spot while driving; we develop blind spots in how
we should be love to the people around us.
Advent is a time for us to grow, to step out of our
norm and work on “seeing” each other better, loving each other anew in hopes of
expanding our hearts beyond Christmas. We do know that the best gifts don’t
come from a catalog and are not wrapped in brightly colored paper. The best
gifts come from the heart; they are the moments that we share with one another
in love, compassion and charity. God knows our hearts, He shaped us, He knows
our capacity for love, He knows the gifts He has placed in us and waits on us
to choose to use them of our own free will. Loving each other as Christ loved
us, being His light to the world. The star that shines beyond Advent.
JCB 12-8-12
