“The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light”. It is a line from a hymn which is deeply evocative of what Advent is supposed to be. Just as well that in the northern hemisphere the nights are long and waiting for daybreak, waiting for the sun to rise is part of the experience of living in darkness for most part of the day.
However, we have lost the ability to wait. More so when the Christmas lights are already up. Interestingly the toponym for the final stop of the Camino reveals the importance of light in darkness. The word “Compostela” from Santiago de Compostela can mean the field at the end of the stars. In a night sky polluted by light, it is not easy to make out the stars let alone be guided by their light. But in those days, when artificial light was restricted to candles, oil lamps and open fires, the stars above the skies provide enough glow to guide in darkness. Pilgrims who walked at night found their way to Santiago via the illumination of the Milky Way.
To recover the spirit of waiting, of anticipation, Advent is therefore the darkness which helps us to appreciate the coming of light. More than light pollution, life has also been sped up since to the point that time seems to have lost its organic nature. Growth or development which is organic requires the passage of time. A seed needs time to germinate. Cheese needs time to mature and wine needs time to age. Whereas today our processes are synthetic. They reflect who we perceive ourselves to be. We determine our destiny because time waits for no man. We hurry our processes so that our destiny might arrive sooner rather than later.
Recently the clergy went for their annual discernment retreat. The central concern there was on the adoption of the synodal process for our diocese. One of the priests quietly remarked that it has been nearly 60 years since Vatican II Council and we have not even fully implemented the mandated renewal. In fact, right now the main struggle in the Church remains the Council’s proper interpretation. And now we are thinking that the so-called synodal Church can be reality in a period of less than 5 years. There is a belief that the future of the Church is synodal and thus we are in a rush to shape the synodal Church.
Time is of the essence. Indeed, it is but it is certainly not the lack or shortage of time which presents the problem. Rather it is the our lack of appreciation for the nature of time. What seems to be organic in its rhythm and development is now deemed to be artificially-driven or synthetically manufactured. In other words, we are rushed by commercial considerations and impelled by demand for instant gratification. The virtue of waiting patiently has been eroded by the need to be satisfied immediately. We want results not today but yesterday.
As we prepare for Christ, we must wait. Time requires that we wait for Him to come. But waiting has become a curse. Take a look at the car-washes surrounding the Cathedral’s vicinity. Observe what the foreign workers do when they have no cars to wash Do they sit and wait? No. They are all peering into their mobiles devices, streaming the latest content etc or updating their online presence. The scene is repeated in our waiting rooms be they a hospital, a government agency, an airport etc. Everyone is filling up time with activities, distractions and pre-occupations because we fear waiting. We must fill our minds with endless entertainment.
Waiting is not merely inaction or passivity. It is most intense because one waits for the Lord’s timing. God’s timing is not chronos but kairos. Chronos is the time that ticks away and it follows sequentially. Second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day etc. It can be painful because we must bear its passage. Given that we are activity-oriented, chronos can be excruciating because there is nothing to do as time ticks away and we end up feeling unproductive. On the other hand, Kairos is qualitative. How does one appreciate the nature of kairos? Spending an hour with a loved one can feel like a lifetime. One barely notices the passage of time when one is engaged meaningfully. As someone has remarked about a second accidentally touching a hot iron feels like a lifetime and a lifetime with a beloved feels like a second.
Hence, if we have no patience, chronos can only be painful and boring. Even if we were to fill up that time with endless entertainment, at the end of it, we will still be left with a feeling of emptiness or dissatisfaction. Whereas patience means that we allow time to slowly unfold so that miracles can unfold too. The 2nd Reading today warns us against drunken orgies, promiscuities or licentiousness, wrangling or jealousy. The point here is that when we are waiting for God to reveal Himself, our temptation is to pack up chronological time with activities because we are fearful of the emptiness and the pain of waiting. The usual Thursday Adoration is a good example. The silence before Christ can be unnerving and as such the seduction is to fill the two hours with soothing with music in order to distract us from the possibility of encountering God.
For God to show Himself, kairos requires patience as well as vigilance. Furthermore, it is fortified by hope because it is waiting for God to work on us. It requires that we allow the purification to take place in us. We will appreciate God’s grace better when we give Him space to break into our lives.
In a way, you can say that we are already celebrating Christmas. We are eating more, shopping more and maybe travelling more. It is that time of the year. But in the midst of all these activities that seem to do more, we should also clear space, that is, give time for God. Silence is a powerful medium because it quiets down the soul so that God’s rhythm can be detected. We do much but at the same time, we must leave much not to be rushed through.
As we invite Jesus to come, we must pray. As the silent Adoration on Thursday is an indication for us, we must pray for the strength to wait and not be seduced to fill our chronological time with activities. Instead for kairos to happen, we need the strength that comes from prayer, to wait for the coming of the Lord.
