Pastoral Reflection
My holiday season kicked off on November 25, a full month before Christmas, when we held a celebration with the first group of clients who attend Bethel’s food bank. Complicated scheduling over the holidays means that we will not see these folks again until mid-January. We celebrated with hot chocolate and other goodies in a freshly decorated foyer, complete with treat bags for the children who attend the food bank with their parents.
As I was busily rushing around the foyer, dashing from one task to the next, I noticed a mother with her two young daughters, sitting on the floor beside the book tree. Something about the scene made me pause. I happen to know, from an earlier conversation, that this will be the family’s first winter in Canada—a big adjustment that has meant collecting warm clothing and learning what it means to dress for the weather of Winnipeg’s harsh winters. As I watched, I noticed that the mother was talking softly to her daughters in Ukrainian, and as I passed by, I could see that they were all looking intently at the nativity scene nestled on the lower part of the tree. As her mother spoke to her, the one-year-old was ever-so-gently stroking baby Jesus with one finger. A holy moment—one that has continued to hold a tender place in my heart amidst the long to-do lists that come with this season.
For me, this vignette of mother and daughters serves as a reminder during this Advent season that even amidst all the early Christmas celebrations, Advent is a time to be attentive for signs of Immanuel, God-with-Us even now. More than that, it is a reminder that this God has a habit of showing up in the places we might least expect. Amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy food bank. In a chance encounter with a neighbour. In the womb of young Mary. In the middle of our everyday lives.
This Advent, may we have eyes to see and ears to hear the places where God is still showing up in our lives and in our world—holy moments, glimpses of joy in a weary world.
- Kathy McCamis