Blue Advent

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who depend upon horses;
Who put their trust in chariots because of their number, and in horsemen because of their combined power,
But look not to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord! - . - Is 31, 1-3

I think we have become a society who has come to depend on the gifts of this world rather than accepting them as God's providence for us and continuing to depend on him. We seek the best answer that the available resources seem to present, rather than doing what we know to be God's will for us and trusting that the resources we need to do it will be there.

I'm not advocating reckless abandon. Taking stock is prudent. Yet sometimes we do what we know to be wrong because we can't trust enough to do what we know to be right. We look everywhere else for answers first, rather than looking to God first and then looking around to see the resources God provides for us to do as he reveals. And we seek our joy in the blessings around us, making them an end in themselves rather than a means to draw us closer to the One who provides every blessing.

I don't have anyone else in mind as I reflect on this. I just think that this may be the part of my present ennui.

Matthew Kelly has said that we can never get enough of what we don't really need. Maybe it's that we can never get enough of anything, of any combination of finite things, to which we may be looking instead of our infinitely loving God, who is in fact what we need.

Advent is a time of longing, and each year I embrace its tone. It looks as if I have finally entered the season.