Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
December 21, 2003
Vol. 48, No. 45

“Drawing Nearer To God” Is a Two-way Street
Most of us are used to the idea that the Season of Advent is all about preparing for
the arrival of God among us in human form, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. This is
the central concept of our Faith, God drawing not simply nearer to us but, actually,
entering right into the core of our being. Immanuel means “God with us,” and that
act of drawing so close to us that we become inseparable is what it means for us to be “ in Christ.”

But God never takes us by force. Each of us, alone, holds the key as to how close God can come. Unless we take the initiative to draw close to God, God cannot become fully present to us. We have to be seeking God. We have to have our focus on building a strong relationship, paying attention to God. In short, it’s a two-way street.

In Discipline and Discovery, Albert E. Day provides a helpful Advent analogy:

Did you ever encounter, on the street, a friend whose physical eyes looked at you without seeing you? You walked right into him before the alien look on his face changed into one of recognition. Then he confessed that he had been so absorbed in thought about some other matter that he had not been aware of you, until your intentional collision with him. You were there, yet he did not see you. Though actually in your presence, he was nevertheless as unconscious of you as if you did not exist.

That is the persistent failure of the unemancipated consciousness. It can be so preoccupied by lesser realities that it does not sense the presence of the divine Reality surrounding and sustaining it. Something has to happen to end that absorption on other affairs, so that it can turn its attention to God.

The author goes on to talk about some of the circumstances that can get our
attention. Sometimes it’s the death of a loved one, surviving a serious illness, the
collapse of a long friendship, or waking up from an addiction that has taken over our lives. He laments the fact that for so many of us, it takes this kind of “collision” to make us conscious that we are not alone--that God is there, all around us, all the time.

Advent alerts us to the reality that the God who is constantly arriving is especially
drawing near, yet again, at this Christmas season. We are going to “run into Him”
again and again. We will either be asleep at the switch and pass Him unaware or we will be utterly transformed by opening the door to receive all His greatness, love and holiness.

Do you see? It’s entirely up to you. Is this Christmas going to be just like those of so many years past--a purely secular holiday celebration filled with too many gifts, too much to eat and drink, in which the bottom line is that you’re left with the same old feeling of emptiness? It doesn’t have to be that way. God WILL draw near. The challenge posed by Advent is this: Will you recognize God and invite Him in?

Bob Hansel

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