Advent 21

When I am with my newly-met college friends, who I am growing to love, I feel the absence of my wife.

And when I am at home with my wife, who, still after all these years, I am growing to love, I feel the absence of my college friends.

It is not that when I am with my friends I wish I were with my wife instead; or that when I am with my wife I wish I was with my friends instead; as if I were perpetually unable to live in the moment.

It is that being in the presence of one you love is a weightless experience [1] [2]. Whereas being in the absence of one you love is a weighty experience.

To bear the
wait
is to choose
to bear the
weight.

Come, Lord Jesus!


[1] we understand this most clearly in relation to romantic love, where we even speak of the sensation of “walking on air”
[2] as opposed to being in the presence of one you fear, which is a heavy burden


Advent