John the Baptist preached in the wilderness about the coming of Christ. During Advent we prepare for His coming too. Generally speaking we don’t live in the wilderness as John did but we may experience our own ‘wilderness’ in other ways.
When I was a kid we knew our neighbors. We lived in community with those around us. When Glen and I were first married I made a point to meet and get to know those living near us. This continued during the early years of our marriage even as we moved various places. This did not last though as the years went on we found few people took time to get to know those in the neighborhood. They were more likely to have friends from work and for us we had more friends at Church. Our neighbors just weren’t interested in meeting each other. Our neighborhoods have become a wilderness.
Now we live in a very different environment. We share meals with two others at our table and table assignments are shuffled every two months guaranteeing we will meet new people. We see our neighbors frequently and occasions like ‘decking the halls’ bring us out of the wilderness and into each other’s care and company. We know which neighbors are not well and share our concerns for each other as we walk out across the wilderness together and share the passage with Our Lord.
May you find companionship for your journey through Advent.
