“I Want To be Ready” by The Rev. Kaji Douša
This advent season, I have a message for people of faith: part of the purpose of advent is that we pull ourselves together in order to be ready for Jesus. One of the things that we are most challenged with, I think, is that if we were to encounter Jesus – if Jesus were to come back right now – would he come as a person we would even find ourselves in conversation with, or would we pass him by on the street? Would he come as somebody who we want to talk to, or would he be someone who, we would find as a threat or a danger to our lives? Preparation in this advent season means being ready to encounter Jesus however it is that he decides to come back. And that means building practices of compassion, being able to look at and talk to people who we typically would not reach. I want to be ready for Jesus, but that means reaching out to places where I probably have never even gone before. And if this is you, if you are too wondering how to prepare for Jesus to come, prepare to meet him as he comes. And it will never be in the ways we expect. Amen.