• About Matt B. Redmond

Echoes and Stars

~ "We got the sky to talk about and the world to lie upon."

Echoes and Stars

Category Archives: Advent

Thoughts At Christmas For the Rest of the Year: Part 1, The Waiting

29 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by mattbredmond in Advent, Christmas, Hope, Thoughts at Christmas, Waiting

≈ Leave a comment

It must be awful for my kids. The day after Thanksgiving we told them that the Christmas season had started. But we then let them know it would be another month before the opening of presents. My 7 year old daughter looked a little downcast while my 4 year old son asked, “What’s a monf“? Confused, he joined his older sister in her determined impatience. The waiting is indeed the hardest part.

I remember looking through catalogs as a kid and staring longingly at the same circled toys again and again. I’d turn the page and look at another and then do it again. The girl’s section would emerge and I’d quickly start over again. All those longings merged into dreams of all the joy to be had when Santa came. The patience was painful.

Only the accoutrements of Christmas could tide me over till the day. Lights. Trees. Candy. Charlie Brown Christmas specials. Black and white Christmas movies. Parties. Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmas Time.’ And peering into the wrinkled pages of a Sears Wish Book.

My wife says I’m a ten year old boy trapped in a man’s body. Just because I want a wii and Beatles Rock Band for Christmas is no indication. But I do still long for Christmas. The waiting is still difficult.

Christmas has always been full of waiting. The Israelites waiting for the Messiah. Mary waiting nine months. Joseph waiting for Mary. Herod waiting to hear from the Wise Men. Even now we wait for Jesus to come again. Waiting for something to come is inextricably linked to the Christmas experience.

Isn’t it funny how for kids all the lights and trees and songs not only tell of the promise of what is waited for but also make the waiting really hard. Every twinkling light is a reminder of shiny new toys with buttons and blinking lights. The songs sing of presents and the joy of that morning. The tree is a towering promise of dreams nourished on hope just waiting to be fulfilled.

And so the waiting. Just like we wait for what is to come. And here we are – never knowing and understanding how long. Songs reminds us of the bliss. Every taste of choice fare is a reverse echo of what is coming. Trees remind us of the towering promises of God’s faithfulness proven upon a tree. And so we wait until that day.

Advertisements

Archives

  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
Advertisements

Top Posts & Pages

  • No Condemnation: A Mother's Day Sermon
  • About Matt B. Redmond
  • A Mother's Day Sermon...If I Had to Preach One.
  • 10 Quotes from The God of the Mundane
  • 10 Thoughts on the New U2 Album
  • 5 Quotes from "Living the Resurrection" by Eugene Peterson
  • The Hardest Thing
  • 10 Books I Recommend That I Read for the First Time in 2013
  • A Father's Day Sermon...If I Had to Preach One
  • Grace for Moms: A Review of "Engaging Motherhood"

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • What Good is Poetry? 11 Quotes
  • “Poetry Is For Girls”
  • He Listened to Jazz on Thursday
  • Rest: Part 2
  • Nineteen Years, Nineteen Moments

Categories

  • 1000 kisses
  • 2011
  • 21
  • 9/11
  • A christmas carol
  • Acts 29
  • adam
  • adele
  • Advent
  • al
  • al mohler
  • al sharpton
  • alabama
  • alys stephens center
  • american dream
  • anger
  • angry birds
  • Annie Dillard
  • annihilationsim
  • anthony bourdain
  • apple
  • art
  • aspergers
  • authority
  • autism
  • Bacon
  • banking
  • barton hollow
  • baseball
  • battlestar galactica
  • bbq
  • BCS
  • beach
  • Beatles
  • beauty
  • ben pearson
  • bible
  • Billie Holiday
  • biography
  • birmingham
  • birthday
  • BJCC
  • black panther party
  • Blue Like Jazz
  • Bluff Park
  • bob dylan
  • bob flayhart
  • books
  • borders
  • bp oil spill
  • Bree
  • brennan manning
  • brent detwiler
  • Bright Morning Stars
  • Bristol Palin
  • british literature
  • bruce ray smith
  • bruce springsteen
  • bullying
  • C.S. Lewis
  • cam newton
  • cancer
  • capitalism
  • cardinal
  • cardinals
  • casey the punisher
  • Catholic
  • charles dickens
  • charlie crews
  • cherubim
  • christian biography
  • Christian growth
  • christianity
  • christians
  • Christmas
  • Chronicles of narnia
  • church
  • church planting
  • cj mahaney
  • clc
  • coffee
  • Colin Firth
  • colin meloy
  • communism
  • compassion
  • concert
  • contraception
  • cormac mccarthy
  • covenant life church
  • Covenant Seminary
  • cte
  • culture
  • dad
  • dale murphy
  • damien lewis
  • Dan Rather
  • death
  • Don Miller
  • dorothy sayers
  • downton abbey
  • drawing
  • duffy
  • dumbledore
  • dusty springfield
  • DWTS
  • dying
  • eden
  • effeminate men
  • ella fitzgerald
  • emily dickinson
  • emma thompson
  • Emmylou Harris
  • eugene peterson
  • evangelical
  • evangelicalism
  • evangelism
  • eve
  • everything is meaningless
  • facebook
  • failure
  • faith
  • family
  • fascism
  • fat kid
  • father
  • father's day
  • father's day sermon
  • Fergully
  • flaming red
  • flaming sword
  • Flannery O'Connor
  • football
  • fox news
  • frank lloyd wright
  • friendship
  • g.k. chesterton
  • gamaliel
  • gandalf
  • gear
  • george macdonald
  • george zimmerman
  • Glory Bound
  • God
  • gospel
  • Grace
  • great commission
  • great expectations
  • green eggs and ham
  • guns
  • haiku
  • handwriting
  • Harper Collins
  • harry potter
  • hell
  • Hermit
  • home
  • Hope
  • illegal immigration
  • immigration
  • imonk
  • iphone
  • Ireland
  • israeli theater
  • itunes
  • Jane Austen
  • jane eyre
  • Jennifer Ehle
  • jerram barrs
  • Jesus
  • Jim-N-Nicks
  • john coltrane
  • John Cougar
  • John Piper
  • John Stott
  • jonna petry
  • josh harris
  • josh ritter
  • joyful exiles
  • judge
  • justice
  • justin taylor
  • kalos press
  • karma
  • kickstarter
  • King's Cross
  • king's speech
  • KMOX
  • labor day
  • language
  • law
  • legalism
  • life
  • links
  • Louis Armstroong
  • love
  • Love wins
  • luke 15
  • Magnificat
  • make your own application
  • makoto fujimura
  • manliness
  • marilynne robinson
  • mark driscoll
  • mars hill
  • martyrs
  • Mary
  • Mary Jo Kopechne
  • masculinity
  • masterpiece theater
  • math
  • matt chandler
  • mean
  • memoirs
  • Michael newnham
  • michael spencer
  • midweek music
  • ministry
  • Miss Marple
  • missional
  • missions
  • modern
  • moms
  • monk
  • mother's day
  • movie
  • Mr. P's
  • mundane
  • music
  • national poetry month
  • Neil Young
  • new reformation press
  • novels
  • occupy wall street
  • OK GO
  • old
  • open-air preaching
  • opening day
  • ordinary
  • our mutual friend
  • ows
  • Pandora
  • parody
  • pastor
  • pastoral work
  • pastors
  • patty griffin
  • Paul
  • paul petry
  • paula deen
  • peace
  • peaceful soul
  • pharisees
  • phoenix preacher
  • planet narnia
  • poetry
  • poison and wine
  • Pork
  • prayer
  • Prince of peace
  • prodigal son
  • psalms
  • publishing
  • Purple Onion
  • quiet
  • racism
  • radical
  • radiohead
  • rain
  • Random Thoughts
  • rapture
  • ray charles
  • red mountain
  • Redmond. Clan
  • Reformissionary
  • religion
  • relit
  • representational
  • resignation
  • rest
  • ribs
  • rick perry
  • righteousness
  • Rob Bell
  • Rosemary Clooney
  • Ruling Class
  • running
  • rush limbaugh
  • ryan adams
  • sabbath
  • salsa
  • sandra fluke
  • sarah palin
  • scott thomas
  • scriptures
  • seattle
  • sermon
  • sgm
  • sgm wikileaks
  • Shakespeare
  • silence
  • silverado
  • Sin Must Read
  • sinners
  • skye jethani
  • slut
  • snobbery
  • social media
  • soul
  • southern gothic
  • sovereign grace ministries
  • spiritual abuse
  • spiritual theology
  • spirituality
  • Spirtuality
  • st. john rivers
  • Stammering
  • star wars
  • stats
  • steve jobs
  • Steve McCoy
  • steve taylor
  • story
  • Stuttering
  • super 8
  • superdad
  • Surin West
  • taylor swift
  • tea party
  • thanksgiving
  • the beach boys
  • The Beatles
  • The Chieftains
  • the civil wars
  • the decemberists
  • the god of the mundane
  • the gospel coalition
  • The Horse and His Boy
  • The Jesus Storybook Bible
  • the king is dead
  • The King's Speech
  • the message
  • The Pastor
  • the promise
  • the resurgence
  • The Wailin' Jennys
  • thomas merton
  • Thoughts at Christmas
  • thursday
  • Tim Challies
  • Tim Keller
  • tolkein
  • tony
  • trayvon martin
  • trinity
  • truth
  • TSA
  • tuesday's 10
  • twitter
  • tyranny of cool
  • U2
  • Uncategorized
  • universalism
  • universe
  • van morrison
  • Velvet Elvis
  • vocational ministry
  • Waiting
  • weekend
  • wendell berry
  • whittaker chambers
  • winter light
  • witnessing
  • wonder
  • wretched urgency
  • writers
  • writing
  • x-files
  • youth ministry
  • youth pastor
  • zen
  • zune

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel