Oh Come!

O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love:
come to teach us the path of knowledge!

The season of jolly music, cheerful decor, special sales, and crowds is upon us. We are entrenched in it, with Christmas just around the corner. I have been praying that in this season of Advent, my heart may dwell in the meaning. This darkness that precedes Christmas has a purpose.

We long for the things we hope to come. Advent is a time of longing. A time of "not yet", and "I hope". What does it feel like to dwell in a darkness that has not seen the light yet?

We can experience the time as reflecting on a dark time, but we can hold onto the hope of the coming Christ expectantly, especially because we know the story. We have seen God's plan. We have celebrated every year.

In order to appreciate the true coming of light, we have to experience getting through the darkness.

Darkness.
What would it be like to not know the story of Christ? To sit in darkness without the knowledge that God was about to come to earth to view the world from our perceptive? Would we still be waiting, yearning, hoping for something?

We might call out for someone to answer. We might use names that describe Christ, but do not name Him directly.

Oh come, wisdom!
Oh come, day spring!
Oh come, key of David!
Oh come, desire of nations!

The O Antiphons are the poems and phrases I love to come back to each year. They help me re-visit the pre-Christmas darkness of waiting and hoping. They call out to our Lord, who has all the answers, but remains hidden in mystery until the right moment. 

We long for what we may not know yet. Something beyond our own imagining is coming.

If we embrace our Advent season with our heels in history, we shall see ourselves in a dark place of the un-knowing. Are we willing to venture there? Or does the commercialization of Christmas distract and consume us? It is admittedly difficult to focus on the meaningful, deep, hidden things during this season. May we seek out moments to think deeply about these beautiful, once hidden, mysteries of Christ.