Advent Thoughts in the Airport
My flight back to Greensboro after Thanksgiving was on the busiest travel day of the year after a historic snowstorm in Chicago that pushed most flights from the prior day to Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent.
O’Hare was full of cranky children, tired TSA agents, and stressed adults trying to rebook flights or argue for refunds. After my five-hour delayed flight finally boarded, we sat on the tarmac for about an hour waiting for a new pilot since our first pilot reached her flying hour limit, and then waited another hour for our plane to de-ice.
In the midst of the traffic, delays, gate changes, and uncertainty, I was forced to wait. As I was waiting, I found myself comforted by fixing my eyes on Christ. A deep breath would remind me that Christ is with me always—even in a busy airport—and I had much to be grateful for despite delays. I would (eventually) return to a warm house, class with the Fellows the next morning, and a host family that was staying up late to welcome me home.
In many ways, this long day is what the season of Advent looks like: a hopeful longing for home. This week, we did an Advent devotional with the Fellows and discussed the familiar discomfort of waiting. Waiting confronts us with our lack of control and leads us to hope for something beyond ourselves. The Advent season invites us into the Israelites’ longing for the Messiah and our longing for Christ’s return.
Amidst the discomfort of what has not yet come, we can fix our eyes on the day when “the infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest” (Isaiah 11:8). This hopeful Advent waiting changes all aspects of our lives and allows us to live with gratitude for what the Lord has provided in our waiting.
For many of us Fellows, this year is a transition period full of waiting. What comes next? Where will I live? What will I do? I am waiting to hear back about graduate program admissions. As someone often anxious for control, this year is a practice of all that Advent invites us into—surrendering control and fixing our eyes on the coming King. I am learning (quite slowly) how to do that in stressful travel days, big life decisions, and alongside my honest, intentional, and encouraging Fellows class.
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned!” (Isaiah 9:2).
With hope,
Mary