What do we Expect?

Because it looks like we will have SNOW on the ground until the end of the year I thought we could all do with a TROPICAL scene :) Doesn't that hammock look inviting? Wouldn't you like to doze off in it as you feel the heat of the sun and hear the lapping of the water against the warm sand? (Am I being cruel?) Being suspended above the ground, in a state of complete relaxation - not quite in touch with reality - now that does sound fabulous! But not when it comes to our emotional hammocks!

"Disappointment can be like a
HAMMOCK
to which we instantly
RETREAT
whenever we are
CONFRONTED
with people and situations
that fail to meet our
EXPECTATIONS."

- Wayne Muller

So, is there disappointment in this Advent season of waiting? Absolutely - just look at the expectations the world had (and still has) regarding the Savior. What kind of king would be born to people living in poverty? That's not what the disciples & others were looking for. I'm sure that as Jesus was led to His death there were many who kept waiting for Him to "do something"....They were expecting a powerful ruler- so why wasn't He acting like one? How disappointing!

Maybe that's why there is (and has been) so much obsessing over the second coming of Christ - That meek and mild stuff was OK for the first century but some believe that when Jesus returns he needs to break through those clouds with guns blasting! He needs to let everyone know He is in charge and start kicking some serious ass! But what if He returns, not to punish but to forgive? Not to condemn, but to love? Not to check to see if you have said the sinner's prayer, but to hold each and every one of us in his loving and neverending embrace? What do we expect?