An Advent Reflection

I've been an exercise nut for many years. When I lived in Florida, I ran, biked, walked and swam practically nonstop. When I moved to Iowa, I enjoyed my constitutional with my dog Sadie every morning after breakfast, rain or shine, snow or ice. But since my foot surgery last winter, I will admit to babying myself more than I needed. I went for months without going to the Y, my swimsuit and sneakers stuffed away out of sight.

However, things have changed in the past few weeks. I was shamed back into the pool when I saw the lifeguard at a church event. All she had to say was, "We miss you," and I took the plunge the very next day. I got back onto the treadmill last week after returning from my vacation. It hadn't been easy trying to keep up with my cousin as we walked what seemed like miles at a very brisk pace every day. I'll admit that it left me somewhat breathless. Now I'm back, enjoying every step and every stroke that I take. But I had a revelation the other day as I embarked on the treadmill for my 45 minute walk, and it was this: maybe it was time to be more diligent about exercising my faith, too.

I used to have a great system for prayer in motion. It was easy to keep track of my prayer requests by counting them on my fingers or by the cadence in my step. Walking Sadie around town was sacred time spent on holy ground. I wrote a lot of sermons in my head while swimming laps in the pool. My system worked well for me in those quiet moments. However, walking on the treadmill at the Y is a whole different story, with the cacophony of televisions and radios blaring. I have to take my MP3 player and headphones so that I can drown it all out with my own music. It's not exactly an environment for prayer!

We have the perfect opportunity for a time of reflection now as we begin the season of Advent, awaiting the coming of the baby of Bethlehem. It's a great time to exercise our faith as we plunge into the waters of baptism, certain that God will fill us with the breath of life as we try to keep up with the hustle and bustle of the season. Let's not forget to put on our holy headphones to drown out the cacophony of the world, It is only them that we will hear the still, small voice of our divine lifeguard saying, "I miss you," as we make room for the Christ Child to dwell within us.