As a child, I often played a game called “Hide and Seek” with friends, siblings, and cousins. The one who was “it” had to count down with their eyes covered as the others hid. At the end of the countdown, they would have to say the line, “Ready or not, here I come!” The countdown of Advent is a lot like the countdown of the game of “Hide and Seek”: at the end, Jesus says, “Ready or not, here I come!” Just like in the game, many times we feel that we are not ready.
As this time of preparation for our Infant Lord comes to a close, we often feel ourselves unprepared. Whether it is the busyness of social events or the lack of time for prayer and silence or the economic stress that comes at the end of the year, there is often a feeling that the heart is not as ready as it could be to receive the Christ Child. Yet he comes, whether we are ready or not.
The First Christmas
Let’s go together to the scene of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, looking for a place to stay, trying to ready a stable for a king. It is very probable that they did not feel prepared, but rather anxious, rushed, and insecure. Of all people, I am sure they may have been the first to shout, “We’re not ready!” Not only were they new to parenting! They were new to the town! They were strangers in a place they had not been before. But Jesus still came.
Christmas Today
Even if we are not ready, Jesus comes to find us where we are. He wants to meet us in the middle of what we are doing. As we await his coming to the world tonight, our hope is in this: He is God With Us, Emmanuel.
