The Long Wait Mark 1:1-8 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; ......"  (Mark 1:7) But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. ( 2 Peter 3:13) We spend a lot of time waiting.  We wait in line for the cashier in the grocery store.;  We wait for the Doctor in the Doctor's office. On the Island we wait for ferries. We I moved here people said that I would learn that "you run for ferries and then you wait for ferries and everything is on slow time". We wait for buses.  the other day I rushed around doing some shopping in hopes to be one time to catch my bus home but I was a couple of minutes late and the bus had already gone. That meant that I had to wait another hour for the next bus. What was I to do while I waited?  I went the book store to browse. They I went for coffee.  Fortunately I had my e-reader with me that has over fifty books in it so I was able to sit with my coffee and do some reading so It was a useful time of waiting. The bus finally came and I was able to make my way home. Advent is a season of waiting - waiting for the coming of the Christ and waiting for the coming again. In the Gospel today John the Baptist leaps on to the stage and proclaims baptism and repentance for the forgiveness of sins and by these actions he is preparing the people for something greater.  It is a time of waiting for the one more powerful than John, the Christ who will usher in the Kingdom of God. But, even then, we must wait for it's completion when there will be a new heaven and a new earth when we will realize completely that God is with us and our tears will be wiped away.  In that day, death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more. Darkness will be overcome and we will live in the light. * We are still waiting for the coming of God's Kingdom to be fully realized. It is a long wait. In a lot of ways we are still sitting in darkness wondering whether the light will ever come. Terrible things happen every day.  There is war and rumours of war. There is so many acts of cruelty to one another. Peace on Earth goodwill for all people seem far away. There is economic recession and job loss where families face dreadful times.  Sickness and disease are all around us.  The good die young, the wicked prosper and in every place there is enough grief to freeze the blood.  We have to question whether the Kingdom will ever come or is it all a pipe dream. However, The season of Advent is a time to realize that it is not a pipe dream and to reaffirm our belief that the Love of God will triumph.  We get ready now to celebrate the coming of Christ and his earthly ministry which was the preliminary stage of the coming of the Kingdom of God.  It is also a time to prepare ourselves to the see the light breaking into our darkness. It is all around us if we open our eyes to see it. * Paul Tillich, the theologian,  pointed out in one of his sermons that we live in two orders: the human, political, historical order and the divine, eternal order. The first one is characterized by Isaiah in the fortieth chapter of the book of Isaiah as one where the grass withers and the flower fade - finiteness.  The second is where the word of God stands for ever - that which is eternal to hold unto.  The eternal order is breaking into our finite order when see acts of love and forgiveness in the midst of our tragedy. It breaks in when we find ourselves able to rise up with the wings of eagles after we have fallen and are at our weakest. It is seen breaking into our lives when even in the midst of our pain and darkness we experience the hidden spring welling up from within with the power to heal and breath new life into us. Sometimes it comes as a revelation, like the story of the Rabbi entitled When is it Daylight? There is a story of a wise old Rabbi who instructed his students by asking questions. He asked, "How can a person tell when the darkness ends and the day begins?" After thinking for a moment, one student replied, "It is when there is enough light to see an animal in the distance and be able to tell if it is a sheep or a goat." Another student ventured, "It is when there is enough light to see a tree, and tell if it is a fig or an oak tree." The old Rabbi gently said, "No. It is when you can look into a man's face and recognize him as your brother. For if you cannot recognize in another's face the face of your brother, the darkness has not yet begun to lift, and the light has not yet come." The eternal also breaks in to the finite order when we commit ourselves to work for justice, peace and the wellbeing of all people in the world. It is not a question of sitting back and letting the Kingdom happen but to bring it about in our lives wherever we can. * Eugene Kennedy in a writing The Joy of Being Human has an interest observation about the connection between waiting and hope: Waiting is a mysterious theme that recurs in the Christian symphony and intermingles with hope; we cannot imagine or understand them separately. Waiting challenges the surge of an age which has long since lost its feel for the turning of the tides or the changing of the seasons. To get there, to deny aging, to have the gratification now instead of tomorrow, to lose a sense of time and its passage-these are footnotes to a contemporary species of progress that has bewildered more than enlightened man. It is strange that we have wandered so far from an understanding of the waiting that comes inevitably to each of us and with which we must come to terms if  we are to be human at all. But waiting fills the Gospels just as it does the life of the Spirit. It is a gentle mystery of life, a kind of invitation into ourselves and the far reaches of our experience, where passage can be made only if we are willing to wait. . . . Waiting is something we cannot do well if we are on the defensive. . .waiting is a revelation for the person who is open in existence to all that is not yet and, that can only be caught in hints and shadows rather than trumpet blasts and headline.  The mystery of waiting to understand, or to grow, or to grasp the right moment to do something-these are the most significant aspects of our existence. Eugene Kennedy The Joy of Being Human * This Advent season, let us take time to increase our awareness of what we are waiting for.  What are the characteristics of what we call the kingdom of God - characteristic that we see in the life of the earthly Jesus. We see him as servant and shepherd.  We see him as the one who gives his life for others, We see him breaking of boundaries that we have devised to keep people apart and separated.  We see him even breaking religious boundaries. We see him overcoming prejudices and stereotypes.  We see him as the human portrait of the Love of God.  May our time of waiting be a time of revelation, of understanding, of growth, of seeing the Kingdom breaking into our lives even if it is only in hints and shadows and then of grasping the right moment to do something. You are visitor number UK Online Casinos This free counter  is supplied by Visible Counter   Connect with Deacon Sils Homelical resource   Also for more sermon and lectionary resources connect to SERMON AND SERMON LECTIONARY RESOURCES Check Out my daughter's web site CARLY'S STRENGTH THE GODDESS WITHIN MUSIC PROJECT Each year, thousands of women and children become homeless as a result of domestic violence.  "The Goddess Within" music project is designed to empower those whose lives have been affected by domestic abuse and to raise awareness of this issue. "The Goddess Within" compilation album will showcase artists and their songs, written for or relating to those escaping the cycle of violence.  The C.D. will be distributed throughout North America and proceeds from the sale of the C.D. will be donated to women's shelters. More information on the CD is available at ARTISTS FOR CHANGE My daughter Carly is featured on the album with her song The Mask.  The art for cover for the CD album is the creation of another daughter, Mary Anne Molcan. Another site to access is Ending Domestic Abuse * Mary Anne is a very talented artist.  She has a new web site called Faerie Artist where she displays her Art.   You can access her site at: Faerie Artist   Megan's Blog You can check out some of Megan's recipes and meal planning on her Blog  Food and Whine, Adventures in making food for my toughest critics, my family.