December 14, 2021 - Advent Week 3
Keg River, AB
Photo taken by Karen Larsen
Matthew 24:36-44
The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[b] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
The bible was given to us to be read, explored and studied. If we do this and let the Word become our word we will grow and continue to grow.
Today’s reading, that I am reflecting on, is about watching and waiting… watching and waiting for what??? As I sat and pondered this a memory from a few years ago came flooding back. We were living in a remote northern community consisting of a school, 4 houses and lots of bush, animals, birds etc. I was watching and waiting then too. I missed my church community and the bible studies and discussions. It was advent and I was waiting for Christmas and seeing friends and family. I still read scripture daily but I felt isolated, alone and abandoned by friends, church and God.
I prayed and prayed about this but I didn’t seem to be getting the answers I wanted. I truly felt I was in a very deep valley. But finally on one very cold winter day God opened my ears and my eyes. It was -50 that day and as I sat in my living room trying to get some warmth from the weak and distant sun I heard something. It sounded like something walking or maybe breathing and then like something chewing. I got up and looked out the window. What I saw astounded me. There was a herd of about 20 deer walking through the field across from my house. I could see their breath in little white puffs and hear them walking as they squeaked across the snow. They stopped to forage through the snow for something to eat. I was ecstatic. This was God in all his splendour surrounding me. I was no longer lost. I had my answers… they had been there all the time but I was so focused on what I wanted and missed that I couldn’t see what God wanted me to watch and wait for. It was all around me. Our Lord and Saviour, creator of our universe and of all things. I thought “Oh How Great Thou Art”. The words of that glorious hymn were running through my mind “When through the Woods and forest glades I wander, I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees”.
We lived there for twelve years and I didn’t tire of my new found way of watching, waiting and studying. One winter evening my husband and I went for a walk. It was a very clear dark and moonless night. We looked up at the canopy of stars overhead and started to sway. We both felt like we were perched on the edge of the universe ready to fall into eternity. “My God How Great thou Art”
I realize today and then that the watching and waiting of Advent is for us to be aware of our surroundings, nature, people, noises. I think Covid has made us withdraw as it continues to isolate us. We need to be aware of others, and continue to watch and wait for what God is gently encouraging us to see. We need to be aware of what we are watching and waiting for.
- Karen Larsen
