Ah -- 'tis the season. The Christmas cards sit in their boxes, waiting to be written. Family members pester me for more ideas because my Christmas gift list is not long enough. (Where's that ELCA alternative gift catalogue?) I haven't started my Advent visits to take Holy Communion to the homebound folks. We met as a church staff yesterday to talk about Christmas Eve service bulletins, and the panic hit me that Christmas Eve is less than three weeks away!! Meanwhile, I needed to be away this past Monday and Tuesday for an overnight Synod gathering of first-call pastors and their mentors. (How in the world did I get to be "wise" enough to be a mentor??) And this morning will be taken up driving to and from Norfolk for an appointment with my infectious disease doctor. (Thank God for compatible software that enables me to work on my sermon at home, in the wee morning hours, in my pajamas, since I'm not able to be in the office this morning!) And when will I find the time to do the two reports I still need to write and to get into Council members' mailboxes by Sunday for next week's meeting, and to plan this Sunday morning's adult session and this Sunday night's Affirmation of Baptism instruction?

The fact is, at this time of year, there is not enough time to get done all that needs to be done!

So I practice Advent. I can only do the best I can. I remember that when I stop in the midst of the frenzy. When I pray. When I watch for what is so easy to miss: what God is bringing into being, in fulfillment of God's promises.