“The people were filled with expectation.” (Lk 3:15) This is how yesterday’s gospel reading for the Sunday celebration of The Baptism of the Lord began.
It seems like a foreign phrase, “filled with expectation.” If someone were to ask me, “How are you feeling?” I doubt I would respond, “I’m filled with expectation.”
I guess that it would be the same for most people. Christmas is receding in the rearview mirror. Maybe there are a few decorations to put away and a few bills to pay, but most have probably slipped back into the workaday world and the drudgery of daily life. Probably not “filled with expectation.”
I look around and see a lot of ‘sameness’ with a touch of dread, not ‘expectation’. I need to redirect my vision. I need to search for those hidden corners of my life where God is saying, “See, I am doing something new. Do you not perceive it?” (Is 43:19)
I Googled “What does it feel like to be filled with expectation?” Three links to YouTube videos appeared. One had a picture of a pregnant woman and titled, “2 Weeks Pregnant, What to Expect.” The next was a picture of a man in a dentist’s chair titled, “How Does a Dentist Fill a Cavity?” The third had a picture of a mansion and the title, “What’s It Like to be a Billionaire in Australia?” Weird.
I can understand a pregnant mother being filled with expectation. Aside from the discomfort, there are hopes and dreams. What is the child going to look like? What will be his or her name? Are the movements in the womb telling me something about this child’s personality? What kind of mom (or dad) will I be?
But getting a cavity drilled fills me with dread. Thinking about billionaires fills me with envy.
Expectation is a virtue to practice. Being filled with expectation means eradicating from my life dread and envy, or numerous other toxic human emotions that crowd out expectation, like discouragement, worry, doubt, anger, and division.
Is it possible for me to recapture some of the same expectation the people had when Jesus came to be baptized? Deep down, I suspect God is about to knock me out of my drudgery and do something surprising in my life. Will I ‘not perceive it’?
How might you practice the virtue of “being filled with expectation” this New Year? Remember, Emmanuel means, “God is with us.” And God is filled with surprises.
The featured photo is a Lenten Rose. In the dead of winter, it has blooms, ‘filled with expectation”.
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