We are quickly approaching the season of Advent. Advent was my original subject for this piece, but when I sat down to write, something else was ringing in my ears and it has been for sometime.

In the wake of a pandemic, a historically chaotic election, and the slurry of devastating storms that our world has recently been hit with, endings have been on my mind, even, more than usual.

Around this time, two years ago, a loved one died. This childhood, familial friend had influenced my family so much, that his death forever changed us all. I remember the day so clearly, and the feeling which came over me, of what I can only describe as; “a seal being broken”.

Now, I’m not so naive to believe what’s happening in my small corner of the world is of enough importance to point to the beginning of the End Times, but then again, isn’t it a part of it? All our endings point to the one Great Ending that is coming. Since that time, I have felt my death grip on control, loosen. It was always a facade anyway, and age and pain tend to make what’s true glare all the clearer.

Truly, we are all “breaking seals”, each day. Every step leads us closer to our end, and, as morbid as some may feel that is, it is needful to realize.

Our culture’s sterilization of death leaves us very little time to prepare for and process the fact, we will all end, someday. We are taught to not think of death, avoid the topic with loved ones, and shield our children from all that points to it. Funerals are cold, quick and and cleaned-up. Mourners are encouraged to speed the grieving process along, and only talk about the good in the deceased. Rumors of the “better place” and “afterlife” are thrown around as comfort, no matter how the dead chose to live, or the state of their soul upon death. We are encouraged to waste hours away, on devices that allow us to escape reality and forget our mortality. When my end comes, I am certain I will regret my eight hour per day phone time and sense the profound loss of those hours which could have been spent talking with my family, or someone who needed Jesus. It’s not how I want to give Him an account of my time. Thinking about my death, always wakes me up to the way I want to live.

So what does Advent have to do with death? Advent means “coming”, and though we usually think of it as referring to Jesus’ first coming, the word actually refers to His second. His second, glorious, triumphant coming, where the pain and suffering in the lives of His beloved, will be ended, forever. But that ending doesn’t come before the pain, which we will all suffer, in this life. I believe thinking soberly about this pain, will cause us to have peace in the middle of whatever we suffer, and cause us to live rightly and well, as we wait for that great Advent.

I also believe that if we stop lying to ourselves about our mortality, we will take better care how we live and walk. Perhaps we will live more as those who are on a quest, instead, of those who are on vacation.

Praying for sober, blessed, gloriously beautiful Advent, for you and yours.

Ephesians 5:15-21 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”