It is the season of Advent leading up to Christmas and, as usual, it seems the busiest time of year besides being the most wonderful, beautiful or happiest time of the year. Time seems to escape me leaving me wondering where the day has gone. The reality for me is that so much is going on that I miss a great deal of it, even when it might be important. I find the barrage to the senses from people, experiences, events, and expectations are often overwhelming. Needless to say, being still is not so easy in this kind of frenetic season of Christmas. It is sad to admit that the very things associated with the season of Christmas can be the obstacles to my experience of Jesus, the reason I celebrate Christmas.

As I sat with a small cluster of people this afternoon and listened for the voice of the Lord in the Scriptures during Lectio Divina, there was a phrase from the prophet Isaiah that said, “Prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight.” What I realized is that the paths of my own making twist and turn, go up and down, and are generally of a crooked nature. This being the case, I realize that a certain amount of effort is required to prepare the way for the Lord. Those things that are twisted need untwisting, those crooked paths need straightening out, and the hills and valleys need to be leveled out, so that Jesus Christ can have unobstructed access, not just to this outer world, but to the interior world of my heart. When I find myself restless and distracted, it may be rooted in the limited access I have afforded Jesus, the prince of peace. It may be due to having chosen to remain on crooked and twisted paths rather than taking the time and putting forth the effort to begin to straighten out and remove the obstacles that prevent an unobstructed view and experience of Jesus. One practice that I am constantly in need of is solitude, where the distractions are minimized and hospitable space is opened to hear and receive Jesus, the Word made flesh. It is what Eugene Peterson in Psalm 46 translates as, “Step out of traffic!”

In these seasons of advent and Christmas we have a potential opportunity, celebrated in the Christian tradition, to wait and watch with hope for the coming of Jesus. When the trappings of the season, the wrappings, as it were, get in the way of seeing Jesus, we may need to tear them off and see the reality of the gift of His loving presence and person concealed underneath. This is the effort involved in preparing the way. Emmanuel means “God with us”, but if the clutter and twisted nature of the path obstruct my view, I may never see the gift I am missing. May you make the effort to practice the solitude that provides space and unobstructed vision of the One for whom the angels sang ” Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, good will toward men.”

Here is a Christmas song to assist in your reflection upon the One who is Lord of all!