My first experience of time-travel
For one month 25 years ago I was living in three different worlds at the same time – the late 20th century, 17th century France and the 21st century that was about to come. I was on a “Heritage Tour” with a busload of confreres traveling through France and Italy to visit sites that would help us understand our Vincentian heritage.
The three worlds were
- Present – Traveling with confreres raised in the world view rooted in the mid 20th century.
- Past – Visiting Cathedrals and special places in the life of Vincent in order to get a sense of our heritage dating from 400 years earlier.
- Future – Reading a book on the bus about an emerging “Post-modern world” or a new era in human development and new ways of thinking about our world.
I remember clearly a moment when I realized that each of these worlds used different lenses in looking at life. I also woke up to the fact that I was moving from a relatively static world experiencing little change from generation to generation to a world of marked by an ever-increasing rate of change bringing with it many new ideas, values and challenges,
That waking up reminded me of a book I had read ten years earlier, Alvin Toffler’s ”Future Shock”. He described “too much change in too short a period of time”.
I found it thought-provoking. And that was before technology literally changed everything and changed it so fast many have still not even realized how much has changed. It was not merely changes spread out over many generations or from one generation to the next… now it is even within generations.
In some sense, my experience of “time-travel” on the bus in Europe amounted to a concentrated experience of Toffler’s landmark book. The shock was my first perception of “too much change in too short a period of time”.
The Three layers of Advent
Notice I said my “first” experience of time-travel. As I think about Advent it seems to be another example of time-travel.
Advent is caught between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The commercial atmosphere of the time formerly thought of as Advent has swamped the spiritual season of Advent. Advent has gone missing in action over just the course of a few generations.
I remember a time when Advent wreaths were common. Today I wonder how many times people think about Advent as a holy season. For the average person, there is very little awareness of Advent much less the radical spirituality it fosters.
Yet Advent is a very rich season in its focus on the “three comings of Jesus” and three different mind-sets.
- The longing of a people for a Messiah who was not yet in their midst. One who will make everything right.
- A longing for the “second coming of Jesus” at the end of time who has made everything right.
- Recognizing the kingdom already present as proclaimed by Christ calling us to change our way of thinking about loving God AND neighbor now.
Notice the difference between longing for the past or the future in contrast to waking up to Christ’s presence among us here and now.
Thinking about the question “when did we see you…?”
The past and the future of the kingdom can distract us from seeing Christ present here and now.
Which Advent, if any, do you celebrate
- the longing of an ancient people,
- the longing for a time to come,
- … or the waking up to the Jesus in our midst today?
Click below for an audio version of this Vincentian Mindwalk.
Advent and time-travelling: what an evocative and mutually revealing pair!
I have to agree with Father Tom – I wasn’t expecting a reflection on Advent.
I’ll have to confess that I look forward to Advent in ways that have surprised me over time. We get to see those violet vestments again and we lose the Gloria, but we don’t lose the Alleluia. We hunker down with readings about the end of days and to be on guard, yet we still have an eye toward Christmas, with giving trees and other trappings displayed of reaching out to others. Before Advent is over, Christmas even creeps into the Liturgy readings and finally trees and an empty creche start showing up in the sanctuary. It’s far less the dramatic transformation we see going from Lent and Holy Week to Easter.
As noted, there’s always that element of time-travel in every Liturgy (not just during Advent) – we reflect on all the things recorded by his friends, we acknowledge him present in the Sacrament and the people present, and yet we pray for his kingdom to come and his will to be done, as if they aren’t already here. Never looked on that as “time travel” but it takes on that triune flavor we see elsewhere.
Now, what’s all this about change happening?
Seriously, the Apostles probably had a more radical change in their lives than we would ever imagine. I am amazed that he only “lost” one of the original 12. The upheaval of so much of what they had held dear was called into question, yet they enjoyed the companionship of someone with great charisma who charmed many but irritated others. Their daily existence was trying to juggle the “certainty” of the past, the “marveling” at the present and “cautious awareness” of what the future might hold. How they made sense of all that remains a mystery for me. In that regard, we seem to have a clearer picture of salvation history, at least, as it has played out for the past six millenia (and counting).
Does that make day-to-day change easier? Depends on which side of the prison wall you have found yourself standing? or the feeding line? or the shelter?
May God have mercy on us all.