Come Thou Long Un-Expected Jesus

Thanks to Minneapolis Pastor Diane Roth whose Christian Centurysponsored blog has a wonderful poem in which she says, "You're not what we prayed for, exactly, but still, youare the answer to our prayers. Come thou Unexpected Jesus, even though, likeZechariah, we prayed for you, but didn'tbelieve the angel..." It is Advent season again in the Christian community, in ourannual cycle. Adventus, or The Coming. For Christians we talk about theredeemer having come and coming again. Iheard a marvelous sermon last Sunday at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral whichled me to ask myself whether I see reality in linear time or cyclical time orwhether I can imagine God's time as some combination of both and transcendentof either. How does time happen in the eternal moment? And what does the coming of a savior mean inthat kind of time? There is the historical coming, which Christians rememberand celebrate at Christmas, and there is the still-to-come which gives us hopefor a better day to come. It is awonderful option – hope - living in the world we do (splendid in many ways andbrutal and terrifying in others). So in Advent we hope, we trust in that hope,and we proclaim that the redemption is upon us and still coming. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, is the hymn title but PastorRoth presses us in helpful ways. Come Thou Un-Expected Jesus. Here's to expecting and welcoming theunexpected. Hope can be that way, you know. Come Thou Un-Expected Jesus. "You'renot what we prayed for, exactly, but still, you are the answer to our prayers. Comethou Unexpected Jesus, even though, like Zechariah, we prayed for you, but didn't believe the angel..." Seems to me that for some of us it can be as GarrisonKeillor has said, "Some luck lies in not getting what you thought youwanted, but in getting what you have, which once you have it, you may be smartenough to see is what you would have wanted had you known." Here's to expecting and welcoming the unexpected. Come ThouUnexpected Hope