I volunteer as a case manager at a Strong Life Rescue Mission one day a week. The non-profit assists the homeless with their basic needs. One of my assignments is to help them acquire proper identification and a social security card. These are often the first steps to help a person transition from homelessness into a job and ultimately find adequate housing.
As such, I frequent the DMV and the Social Security offices, two governmental agencies synonymous with long waits. I sometimes wait for an hour or more. The check-in process is modernized but still involves lining up to get a number, watching the screen, and anxiously waiting for your number to appear in the queue.
Waiting is abhorred by many in a complex, demanding, and rapidly changing society. Waiting in line at the grocery store, in traffic on the way home, or in the ‘waiting room’ at the doctor’s office is to be avoided whenever possible.
Waiting at the DMV could be the most dreadful part of my assignment, but I look forward to the wait. It allows me to begin a relationship with the people I accompany. I inquire about their life. I affirm their hardships. I provide support and encouragement. I show that I care.
Advent is a season of waiting. What are we waiting for? “That we may be free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ” (see Titus 2:11-13)
In short, woven through all our waiting is one thread: the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. The coming is both a future event and a present reality. At the DMV, as I help “the least of these” (Mt 25:40) I do this to Christ who is found in the hungry, thirsty, and homeless. In that blessed encounter, I open a little crack for our Savior Jesus Christ to come into this world.
Advent is an invitation to transform “regular waiting” into “holy waiting”. Whenever you’re waiting, try to find ways to open the door a crack to let Christ come into your world and your heart.