Sparkling Lights

What did you go out to the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine clothing?
Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go out?  To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.” -Matthew 11:7-9

We never got the Christmas lights up last year, and for whatever reason this got under my skin. As the Sundays of Advent ticked away, the task kept slipping away. This year I was determined to get the outside lights up by the Second Sunday of Advent. I pulled all the boxes out of the garage, and the five of us got to work laying out the various decorations. Alas, after a couple of years of neglect, one inflatable no longer inflates and the correct extension cord for the lights was missing. The silhouette of a nativity set is illuminated by some solar lights, and one laser show light is pointed at the house. The final result is a far cry from Clark Griswold’s house in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. The house covered in a blinding array of lights, while festive and fun, does not mark the most important parts of Christmas.  What is it we seek this Advent? Who is it that we seek?

“What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?” John the Baptist is imprisoned, and his followers are desperate to understand how these diversions and setbacks could be a part of God’s plan. Jesus reminds them that they did not follow John out into the desert to enjoy the lovely scenery. They kept going out to hear John’s preaching because they sought deeper meaning, greater truth, and eternal life. While I might enjoy the ethereal image of reeds swaying in the wind, I cannot allow this image to distract me from the reality of what it means to follow Jesus. 

I imagine myself going out to  the desert, seeing and appreciating the beauty God has created, and then allowing my gaze to find the one my heart seeks. Instead of putting up Christmas lights, I have been focused on other work of Advent such as communal experiences for prayer, engaging my kids in the liturgy preparations, and organizing a new service project for the children of our parish. What will I find if I go searching in a palace: fancy clothes and royal people. Mathew’s Gospel challenges me that if I am seeking Jesus, I should go and look where Jesus dwells. I will find Him with the poor, in the Eucharist, and in those around me. Maybe next year we will actually get some Christmas lights up..