Waiting

This Advent season I have been thinking more and more about its characteristic feature...waiting.  This is an activity (or in-activity) that I am not terribly adept at.  My mother and my sisters could tell you horror stories about my attempts at "waiting" in doctor's offices (where I loudly proclaimed I was about to rot) and long car rides (where I plastered myself to the car window), but for some reason, as this year comes to a close, I have been fascinated by the concept of waiting.

Waiting, and doing so patiently, is not something that many people today willingly engage in.  Social networking sites and online shopping, for all of their benefits, have created a culture infamous for its desire for instant gratification.  While it is nice to immediately see what friends and family are up to or to finish your Christmas shopping with one click, being able to still your mind and body in preparation for an event can heighten the pleasure of that meal/gift/experience when the time comes.

It has been a whirlwind of a year, and after, not so patiently, waiting for the semester to end, I am looking forward to this final week of the Advent season to wait and rest, hoping that with the birth of Christ on Christmas day, I will also be reborn into this New Year, refreshed.