First Sunday of Advent

The recent Thanksgiving holiday and this Sunday's first Mass of Advent, complete with the fake Advent wreath and ugly colored banners, reminded me of how each year we go through the same rituals - year after year after year.  We anticipate our holidays and seasons, and make elaborate preparations for the great events - weeks and months ahead of time.  'How does that fit with living in the present moment?'  I wondered.

Of course I know we anticipate the second coming of Christ during Advent, yet all of our attention is ultimately focused upon His first coming at Christmas.  It is almost as if we pretend to make it all about the second coming when indeed what we really want is Christmas.  We are supposed to be vigilant - living in the present moment - while waiting for the end.  It seems to me what many of us really are doing is simply marking time as it were - waiting for something better - while ignoring, if not missing the present moment.  We do it over and over, from childhood through adulthood, looking for a better something, or someone to take away all of our troubles, until that very final present moment arrives...