Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
Come to me, all you who labor and are
burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
Today’s
Gospel reading from Matthew calls to mind a short story I recently read. It is
called “A Fable with Slips of White Paper Spilling from the Pockets” by Kevin
Brockmeier in his book The View from the
Seventh Layer. In this short story,
a working man buys a used overcoat from a thrift store and it turns out to be
God’s overcoat. As he is walking home,
he discovers a slip of paper in the pocket which says “Please help me figure
out what to do about Albert”. We come to
find throughout the story that he keeps finding papers in his pockets as he
passes people or interacts with co-workers and friends. These slips of paper are the unspoken prayers
of people. This man ultimately ends up
finding thousands of slips of paper in his pockets. At one point, he has to leave a baseball
game because pieces of paper begin spilling from his pockets. He has discovered a gift and a burden and
even when he tries to get rid of the coat, he is unsuccessful.
It makes me
want to imagine how God must feel about us.
Here we are, getting ready for the birth of his Son who will say to us
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you
rest.” I can just imagine Father and Son
taking turns with the overcoat and being illuminated at the awesomeness of our
prayers - being able to give us some kind of rest if just in our knowing that they
are there to listen. And God loves us enough just to listen.
Every year
during Advent, I try to spend a little more time with God. Rather than just uttering my prayers to God,
I like to focus on having a conversation.
It is a good time of year for that.
Sometimes the conversation can be lengthy and even moves me to tears;
sometimes it is simply a prayer; and sometimes it is a very heated and
passionate discussion. As we make ready
for the birth of His Son, we also make ready for experiencing a relationship
that makes our burden light. Perhaps now
is the time for us to have a lengthier conversation with God – not just a slip
of paper with a prayer but time to discover the true meaning of what it means
to be in relationship with God.
Susanne
Chawszczewski, Ph.D.
Director of Campus Ministry
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