Thursday, December 3, 2015

Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

Not again?!      Yes, again.

I almost couldn't believe what I was reading and seeing as the news outlets began to cover the insanity of another mass shooting. It almost feels like it has become so common place that the actual sting of the reality of what is happening has been lost. Somehow instead of allowing another event of horror and pain to drive us into action, we are lulled into inaction, tempted to think, It's just a new reality we have to face.

As I was reflecting on these ideas, I was struck with two thoughts related to this season of Advent. The faith community I am a part of is engaging in an Advent theme of Searching for Shalom.  We are attempting to both recognize the deep longing that we have for true peace - the wholeness of God's Shalom, and to remember that as His people who are already experiencing that Shalom, we are called to be vessels of it in this world.  We are both recipients of God's Shalom, called to experience and share it, at the same time we continue to long for it to come even more.

Advent is a season that reminds us that even as we live into the reality of the beauty and love and grace of God, that our souls are still longing for it to come.  We hold in tension the joy of knowing God's Shalom and yet still desiring to see it pour out in it's fullness.  We are called to Search for Shalom in a way that allows us to experience and share it, but also to still long for it to break in more and more.

One of the common prayers of this season is the simple phrase, Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

That prayer feels especially poignant today.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

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